You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.
1 Peter 3:4 NLT
Perhaps Sarah was the only elderly woman who was so beautiful that an Egyptian pharaoh wanted her for his harem! Most of us don’t have to worry about that. We know that whatever physical beauty we possess is fleeting. Despite the commercials and the boutique counters in the department stores and the advances of Botox and collagen, aging happens to every woman.
God understands that our bodies pay a heavy price for the brokenness caused by sin. He knows that we grieve as we see our youth slipping away. Yet He does not want us to make this temporal body the focus of our living. After all, the body only houses the spirit, and one day we will exchange this primitive model for a glorified one.
I love vintage photos and am intrigued by the youthful beauty seen in the picture albums of the elderly. Looking at them in younger days, full of life and vitality, and then glancing at them today brings one to the stark reality that beauty fades and only a shadow of the former glory exists.
That’s why God’s Word tells women to spend most of their effort on beautifying the spirit, which can grow lovelier with every passing year. For only eternity will reveal the glories yet to come.
Father, let me not mourn the passing of time as a foolish woman. Rather, let me beautify my spirit for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Today’s reading was adapted from Daily Wisdom for Women: 2016 Devotional Collection with permission from Barbour Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reading was written by Valorie Quesenberry.