Women - Beautiful in Christ

Pray – (1/2 minute)

Read – (2 1/2 minutes) – “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.” (1 Peter 3:3-5a)
     Passage: Psalm 57:1-11

When God created mankind, He created male and female. A part of that creation is a desire to be attractive, but where the world has it upside down is the idea that the essence of beauty is determined by the condition of one’s looks. The apostle Peter indicated this when he said of some that their beauty should not come from outward adornment. He was not telling women not to fix their hair and forgo makeup, jewelry or nice clothes. He was pointing out that in God’s design, true beauty is determined by the character of one’s life.  

One woman who exemplified true beauty was Ruth, who became great grandmother of King David and as an ancestor of Jesus. On the outside, she was an unlikely person because she was a Moabite and Moses had said “no Moabite may ever enter the assembly of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 23:3) However, through her marriage to a son of Naomi, she came to believe in Jehovah, the one true God and in the promise of the Covenant to bring a Messiah into the world. God saved her by grace and she made a commitment to reflect Him in her life. You can too.

Apply - (2 1/2 minutes)
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Pray - (1 1/2 minutes)