I found another blogger who has just blown me away with the depth and blessing in his message. He is talking to guy about women, but women should read this too. He has put into words what I have attempted many time, but have never succeded.

The Roof Guys wrote this:

Imperishable Beauty

"Do not let your adorning be external-- the braiding of hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothing-- 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

After a string of 5 sons, my parents had a little girl. Abigail Joy is 8 now, and she is the delight of the Wold family.

Abigail is all girl. She has always delighted in putting on dresses, necklaces, and having her hair done. She loves it. At age 5 and 6, she was eager to run up to me, with a smile all over her face and say "look at my dress!" or "Momma did my hair!" However, now at a very mature 8, she simply will walk by me in that special way that communicates to me that I need to behold something amazing. I think the Lord made her this way, and I want to communicate to her that her big bro thinks that she is gorgeous.

Thankfully, Mom has been faithful to teach Abigail this verse from Peter through application. She often reminds her that what is important is to be beautiful "on the inside." For an 8 year old, one of the most practical ways to carry this out is to serve! She loves to serve our whole family! She delights to be Mom's helper. And she delights to serve me! Every time Mom makes pizza, I can expect to have a separate small pizza that was made for me by Abigail. Often when I get home tired from work, Abigail will pull up a chair behind me and massage my shoulders.

The joy that Abigail has in serving is a response to Mom showing her that to be beautiful on the inside is to be TRULY beautiful! As a man in my sister's life, I have the responsibility to affirm this. I want to communicate to Abigail that when she serves, I see her to be truly lovely. Yes, I get excited about the dress, but I ought to be twice as excited about her servants spirit.

As a brother, my job is to confirm to Abigail that to be adorned by a "gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious" is to be truly beautiful. Why? Because I am agreeing with God!

Imagine what Abigail would think if Mom told her that being a servant of others is what it means to be truly beautiful. Now imagine that Abigail pursued acts of service, but my brothers and I never showed any gratefulness, or honor to her for her labors of love. However, every time that she gets dressed up, we get excited and treat her like a princess. What is she going to think?! There well be a great contradiction between what she has been told is true, and what she has experienced to be true.

Guys, we live in a world that does not agree with God on what is precious and beautiful. What is precious in the world's sight is the outward cup! But that outward cup is going to perish with this world! Our eternal father has told us to value imperishable beauty.

Christian women hear this message a lot. They are exhorted in the church to this end. Today, I am concerned about us guys. Please listen and hear me out on this.

We have a responsibility to have our minds conformed to the mind of God. If God tells us that something is actually beautiful, than it is actually beautiful. God doesn't care about your subjective opinion of what is precious. He cares that you value what He values.

We as men must value true feminine beauty. We must! This is one of the greatest ways we can serve our sisters in Christ! In the Church, today, single women are asking this question "I know what scripture says about beauty. However, what I see single men value is quiet different." How sad is this! God is looking down from heaven and seeing imperishable beauty in the church today, and it delights Him! He sees the joyful mother at home with the sick children, and He behold beauty. He sees the single women in the soup kitchen, and He beholds beauty. He sees an elderly women at the end of her life teaching and instructing younger wives to love their husbands, and He sees true beauty.

God is not blind to their outward appearance, He is consumed with imperishable beauty. Men, we have the temptation to be consumed with the outward appearance and blind to imperishable beauty! This is an affront against God. It causes discouragement and tempts Godly women to despair.

The body of Christ is a place where women need to feel truly precious because they are ransomed by the blood of Christ, and because they have laid down the world's value system and are serving their Savior and loving their church with a gentle and quiet spirit.

We ought to be quick to notice this. Men, we need to have heavenly vision. Women in the church ought to turn our heads when they are obeying God. They ought to win our honor, gratitude and respect when they are following Peter's admonition.

Tomorrow we'll talk about some practical ways that we can cultivate this mindset.