Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious (1 Peter 3:3–4, ESV)

The Apostle Peter gives us two attitudes which are “very precious” in the eyes of the Lord. I am sure you will certainly want to know what these are! They are right there in the verse above, a gentle and a quiet spirit. 

First, please remember that when the Lord speaks of  “spirit” here, He is not referring to our human spirit as distinguished from the soul as we will be tempted to think. Spirit here means inner disposition, frame of mind or simply attitude. A person with a quiet spirit is someone who is not disturbed, anxious, worried or worked-up by the  affairs of life. It is an inner disposition or frame of mind. The Lord says this quiet spirit is very precious in His sight. The inner attitudes or dispositions of our hearts are important to the Lord.

Let me dramatize this a little bit to drive the message home. I want you to imagine having your bed in the heart of New York city and trying to take  a nap. The noise, the distractions, movements, commotions etc. will be enormous. Imagine that this is someone’s heart, with all sorts of fears, worries, concerns, agitations, anger, etc. And God lives inside of them and sees their hearts!

Christ is tender-hearted, gentle, and undisturbed by circumstances. He is showing us right here qualities that He Himself calls precious. The Lord wants you to have a gentle and quiet spirit. Guard your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life!

MEDITATE

Why do we(humans) often neglect internal beauty and focus almost all of our attention on our external looks? Hint- can the other person we are trying to impress see our hearts or what is going on inside of us? 

APPLY THE WORD

How is your heart doing? Gentle and quiet? If yes, then you are bearing fruit that God says is very precious in His eyes. Continue and increase! If no, you have work to do. Work with the Holy Spirit to get your heart to the place of bearing spiritual fruit.

PRAY

Ask the Spirit to help you bear the fruit of gentleness and quietness in spirit.

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