Fads of Attraction vs. Imperishable Beauty

"Do not let your adorning be external--the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear--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."--I Peter 3:2-4

"Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."--Proverbs 31:30

Something inside us wants to turn the descriptive into the prescriptive, the restrictive. What's wrong with braiding hair? What's wrong with gold jewelry and nice clothes?

But neither Peter nor King Lemuel actually says that women shouldn't wear jewelry or braid their hair. They don't say that women should hide themselves away or cover themselves from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet. They don't say that the way women dress forces men to sin, as if sin were as external as braided hair.

I thought of these two verses today when I was listening to Helen Kane on Grooveshark. Kane is a singer most commonly known now for providing the look and voice inspiration for the Betty Boop cartoon character, which first rose to popularity in the 1930's. Have you ever heard her sing? Go check it out. That was a top-level attractive voice back in the day.

Are looks a steadier indication of attraction? A hint of ankle in Iran. A lot of cleavage in the United States. Twiggy from the 1960's. Baroque models of the 1600's. There is no standard for physical beauty across cultures, let alone across the ages.

When you near the end of your life and look back on your photos, I will guarantee you that you will find a lot of goofy-looking images. Some of them will be of you sporting looks that were super popular at the time. My cousins, trendier during the 1980's than I was, already look back on their school pictures and roll their eyes over their hair.

You will never look back and roll your eyes because you were kind to someone, or didn't say the first thing that came into your head when it wasn't the best thing to say, or gave your time and money and energy to help someone besides just yourself. Not when you're doing it for God.

Because that's something else Peter and King Lemuel don't say. They don't say "Do these things because men don't care about how you look." They say "Do these things because God cares about your heart." Do men who are bending their hearts towards God prize godliness more than trendiness? Absolutely. Are we working to be beautiful for men? Absolutely not.

Put your hand into the fire and you will be burned. Wade in the ocean and your feet will get wet. Be beautiful for God and your beauty will never die.

It's just how it is.