A Woman’s Imperishable Beauty

A Woman’s Imperishable Beauty
1 Peter 3:3-4

I believe in the Scripture’s teaching that it is a man’s role to fill the pulpit in preaching the Word for any local congregation
I also believe that most every pastor I know ventures carefully into preaching on matters that directly inform women on how to behave
- It’s kind of like the old commercial I remember for I do not remember what, but Abe Lincoln is pictured as the one who will not tell a lie, and as he is standing there, his rather rotund wife comes out and asks, “Does this dress makes me look fat?”
Therefore, please understand that I come to my task on this Mother’s Day with a humble heart; I have sought for wisdom from the Spirit as well as many sources that include women’s insights into these incredibly rich verses from 1 Peter 3
But there are 2 reasons I am drawn to these verses for our church today:
- My observation that while every mother I know loves her children and wouldn’t trade them for anything, manymothers seem… well, harried; they seem to struggle with the demands, not only of their children, but life in general; they are very often tired and, frankly, emotionally short with their family
- In addition, I also observe the toxic endorsement of moms who react aggressively to any threat to their children; it’s a wagging of the head, usually accompanied with the forefinger, that threatens to unleash the power of the “mamma bear;” this is intended to intimidate anyone and everyone who dares to threaten what a mom deems as best for her child
- Satan may roar like a lion seeking whom he may devour, but a mother will fight like a bear to any and every perceived threat
Into this weary and angry feminine world comes the Spirit of God’s exhortation through the apostle Peter… (read vv. 3-4; pray)

Learn the inverted value of a woman’s external adornment, 3
1. There is no sin in external adornment
2. There IS sin in over-valuing the external
  1. This is a familiar way the NT writers have of placing one thing beside another for the purpose of communicating value to one over the other
  2. Placed side by side, the call is for diminishing the external adornment in comparison to elevating the internal
3. To that end, & on behalf of all the men here, we appreciate you ladies for looking good(!); but also, on behalf of all the men, I would offer that we agree with the Proverb from Solomon that an externally beautiful woman who is notinternally beautiful, is like “putting a golden ring in the snout of a pig” (11:12)
4. It is the priority of the inward beauty that God is highlighting, and this is clearly called for in v. 4 …

Cultivate the precious value of a woman’s imperishable beauty, 4
1. The hidden person of a woman is her heart
  1. What is the heart? Biblically: The heart is one’s overall life focus, the life direction one is choosing. This is why it is common to speak of one asking Jesus into your heart, for we are seeking to capture the necessity of Jesus being the Lord and Master of your whole life direction.
  2. Therefore, when we describe one’s heart, we have to ask some questions to reveal one’s heart, questions like:
    1. Where is your focus in your thought life?
    2. What do you emphasize in your behavior, and appreciate or value in others’ behavior?
    3. Where do you invest the principal treasures of your time, your energies and your money?
  3. By elevating the hidden person of the woman, Peter is challenging women to elevate their hearts more than whatever they may put on the exterior; in fact, he uses this beautiful phrase: let your adorning be the hidden person…
2. The hidden person of a woman can be adorned
  1. It’s an active pursuit, a beauty that can be achieved through a growing and deeply personal relationship with Christ; it is not a personality characteristic inherited from mom or dad…
    1. The call is to actively seek this adornment
      1. My dear wife has a lovely dressing table wherein she has drawers of makeup that are truly awe-inspiring; I will never fathom all the “doo-hickey’s” that she uses
      2. While those external adornments fill me with wonder, a greater wonder exists as I watch her pull out her well-worn Bible each morning, and then draws from her stacks of devotional masters and prayer journals and every day, before she ever addresses her external beauty, she adorns the imperishable beauty of her heart
      3. Why? Because she knows as well as any woman what her “natural” heart can look like without the adorning of the Spirit each day in the beauty of a gentle and quiet heart; she knows this is a disciplined exercise designed by God to…
    2. The call decidedly removes the excuses:
      1. It’s the way God made me
      2. I was raised that way
      3. (& the worst of all) I can’t help myself
    3. Instead, the…
  2. The call is an active pursuit of two basic adornments:
    1. A gentle spirit – one’s strength under control
      1. I have always loved horses – watching Bonanza! And then as an adult, I served a church in Lexingtonfor 9 years and saw some gorgeous thoroughbreds
      2. The beauty of a horse escalates when the owner takes all the power and spirit of a stallion, and then brings it under the discipline of the rider without detracting anything from its raw strength
      3. This is sometimes called, “gentling” a horse; it is strength, under control
      4. This is the goal of nurturing a spirit of gentleness: far from making one weak or passive, it harnessesa lady’s great power and abilities, and gives the bit and reins to the Holy Spirit
      5. The result is that when she feels threatened, and fear begins to rise within, and she feels that heart rate go up and flush of the face, she doesn’t react with her “natural” strength of either raising her voice or even her forefinger! Instead, she stands firm in the armor of God and then wields the sword of the Spirit with His control firmly over her hand

And that will never happen regularly unless it is accompanied by…

A quiet spirit – one’s worldview under faith
1. The opposite of a quiet spirit is a troubled spirit, and a troubled spirit usually comes from 3 main sources:
  1. Lack of control – when we feel like we just can’t get a handle on a situation or relationship and fear of the “what ifs” crowd out our peace
  2. Unmet expectations – when we thought we would get “this,” but then get “that,” our spirit becomes troubled when we really don’t like “that” (marriage, children, health, job…)
  3. Unresolved guilt – when we’ve blown it in some way, and have never truly confessed it to the Lord or to the offended party; this cloud hangs over us and robs us of the sunshine of His joy and peace
2. That’s why a quiet spirit requires the submission of your whole world view to faith in a good and sovereign God
  1. It is faith that yields control to your good God for how things are turning in your life so that you can say with Paul: “…I have learned in whatever situation I am in to be content.”
  2. It is faith that willingly submits one’s expectations to our sovereign God: “For it is God who is at work in you (me!), both to will and to work His good pleasure.”
  3. It is faith that releases our guilt over sin and failures to our loving God who makes it clear that: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Even now, ladies, is there one or more of these sources that are troubling your soul, stealing the quiet from your heart? Respond to the Spirit’s prompting and release your control, release your disappointment, release your guilt, and seek after the quiet spirit that only God can truly provide.

For here is the promise from God:

The hidden person (a gentle and quiet spirit) of a woman is very precious in God’s eyes
1. Is this not what every woman who is a follower of Christ desires – to be very precious in God’s sight?
2. If Jesus were to stand before you right now, wouldn’t you thrill to hear Him say, “Oh my daughter, you are just so precious”?
3. Then dear sisters, adorn the beauty of your heart by actively pursuing a gentle and quiet spirit

To that end, allow me to get specific here with a few applications:

Applications:

(Reaching back to the 1st (2) verses of this chapter) A gentle and quiet spirit is the greatest witness to your husband of God’s work in your life. (Refuse the lies: not your words, not your external looks, not any achievement – a gentle and quiet spirit)

Similarly, gentleness and quietness of spirit are the greatest qualities you can cultivate in your daughters. Therefore, be intentional and thoughtful to disciple your daughters’ inner beauty, their hearts with gentleness and quietness.

(Thirdly, beware…) These are two qualities that are completely counter cultural. Cultivate them anyway so that your daughters grow more and more precious in the sight of God.

Finally, husbands and fathers, and to us as a church family – let us recognize that this is a work of the Spirit; we simply cannot enforce our will on this situation. Therefore, let us support our wives and daughters by earnestly praying for them.

In fact, join me in praying even now…

A Woman’s Imperishable Beauty

Resource Info

Dr. Chuck Henderson

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