Beauty is Skin Deep

“Favour [is] deceitful, and beauty [is] vain: [but] a woman [that] feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. “ Proverbs 31:30.

A whole industry has been built up to make a woman look more beautiful, to enhance her features and now the Bible comes and tell us that beauty is vain.

Different couturiers in the world dictate what the woman should wear every season. New York, Paris, London are the famous fashion capitals of the world and many women dream of visiting their famous shops. Ives Saint Laurent, Coco Channel, Gucci are well known names in the world of fashion. There is a pattern suitable for every kind of figure and even some physical defects can be covered up with a certain style of clothes. In the big department stores there are whole sections where all kind of colours for the lips, the eyes and the hair can be found, not to speak of what is on display in the jewellery department. Fashion is not limited to dress but takes care of our feet, too. If fashion dictates long pointed shoes that press the toes together and help with the formation of bunions, women do not give it a second thought. It is fashionable and that is what counts. Today even the colour of the eyes of a woman can be changed to match her clothes! There are also a large variety of hair-styles and hairdos that can make a woman look quite different in a matter of hours.

Not only fashion occupies itself with the beauty of woman, but also medicine. There are several famous plastic surgeons that can perform a successful operation and turn a big aquiline nose into a cute little dot on the face or make a successful lifting. Many beauty parlours offer different kinds of treatments to make a woman’s face look younger and fresher. Every year there is a world competition to choose the most beautiful woman in the world: Miss World. How much time and money does each woman spend for her beauty? How much is given every year for clothes, shoes, hairstyles, etc?

But still, God who made us beautiful and loves us just as we are tells us, “Beauty [is] vain.” In English one says, “Beauty is skin deep”, and it is literally so. It takes just an accident that burns the face for beauty to be erased forever.

“A woman [that] feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. “

Why is the fear of the Lord so important? We get the answer from the Bible itself: “The fear of the Lord [is] the beginning of wisdom.”Interesting! There are so many wise people acknowledged worldwide, who win prizes for their discoveries and inventions and they do not fear the Lord! The Word of God speaks to us again, “Where [is] the wise? where [is] the scribe? where [is] the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” 1 Corinthians 1:20.

But cannot a beautiful woman be also wise? Surely she can, if she fears the Lord. God is a lover of beauty and that is why everything He has created is so wonderfully beautiful. Man is the crown of creation and is precious in God’s eyes. There is no ugly person to a good observer. Even those people who at first sight do not attract our attention for their looks, have one or another feature that testifies they came out from the hands of a great Master. The psalmist says it, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully [and] wonderfully made: marvellous [are] thy works; and [that] my soul knoweth right well. “ Psalm 139:14.

When King Solomon, to whom much wisdom was given, lost the fear of the Lord, he also lost his wisdom, and later on in his life he acknowledged that everything is vanity. He married many beautiful women who had no fear of the Lord and drove him away from the Source of life and happiness. That’s is why he says, “Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.” Ecclesiastes 7:28.

Why is it so important for a woman to be wise? Why has a woman’s wisdom more value than her beauty? Solomon himself gives us the answer, “Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord: but [he that is] perverse in his ways despiseth him.” Proverbs 14:1, 2. Who builds a house? Generally men do it; they speak with the architect, make the plans, etc. But the one who may turn that house into a home is the woman. She can make out of a cold architectural structure a nest of love, a haven of peace, a temple of God. This is not possible if one does not walk in uprightness.

Many times the woman has to practice much patience and bear with manydifficulties; she must be always there for her husband and her children; much is expected from her, from her parents and in-laws; therefore, a woman must be very wise to keep the balance in the home and the family. In order to be able to do this, a woman needs a close connection with God, the Only one who can give her wisdom, the only One who loves her with perfect love.

“Favour [is] deceitful, and beauty [is] vain: [but] a woman [that] feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. “

There are many beautiful women who are very unhappy because they have not yet looked for the Lord, they have not yet met Him; they have not yet experienced His love or found His way. He is the only One who can satisfy all the needs of our souls.

Apostle Peter says, “Whose adorning let it not be that outward [adorning] of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but [let it be] the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, [even the ornament] of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”1 Peter 3:4. And ?Jesus’ invitation to all mankind, including women is, “Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.”

Every woman who hears and answers this invitation and learns to walk with the Lord, will acquire “a meek and quiet spirit” and be “meek and lowly in heart”, the most attractive traits to the eyes of a real man. She will be beautiful at all times because her beauty comes from within and cannot be spoilt, not even with the passing of the years.

“The fear of the Lord [is] the beginning of wisdom.”
“Every wise woman buildeth her house.”
“Beauty [is] vain: [but] a woman [that] feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. “

These are three very important truths that can be a great help for every woman. May the Lord help us to meditate upon them and walk by faith, not by sight.
AMEN.

Teresa Corti