Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30 (NIV)
Our proneness in the here and now is to look on the outside of the package and not the inside. Millions of our dollars and hours of our time are devoted to these bodies of ours - even though they are wasting away as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:16 (NIV): “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
We so often get stuck on the surface, and end up prizing skin over substance – what we can see with our eyes and hear with our ears. Charisma and charm can be very deceptive and beauty is certainly fleeting - no matter what we may do to our faces, time marches on. We can also be so fixated on the external that we foolishly neglect what truly matters – the heart. If outward beauty masks inward folly a fall is not far behind.
External beauty is certainly not evil. God created a world of beautiful splendor. Scripture both appreciates and warns against outward loveliness. It is only when the outside of charm and beauty become more important than the inside of following hard after the Lord Jesus and walking in his ways – that folly occurs. We are to tend to our hearts first and foremost. And the heart is very deceitful as the Prophet Jeremiah tells us in Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NIV):“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? ‘I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.’” Like King David, we are to ask the Lord to search our hearts and point out that which is not pleasing to Him and give us the power to change. It is He that quips us to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and we can trust Him to lead, guide and empower us as we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness following hard after the Master.
God can take our hard hearts of stone and turn them into heart of flesh. He looks for our willingness to believe Him. He strengthens our faith in ever increasing measure as we place our trust in Him. He does this in a myriad of ways – through His Word, through others, through our prayers. Do not lean into your own understanding – of what good is that? In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Matthew 23:25-26 (NIV)