Unfading Beauty

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

Trendy or Timeless?

Have you ever felt pressured to wear a certain outfit because it aligned with the current trends? Maybe it seemed as though everyone else was wearing that outfit, but something about it did not settle right with your heart when you looked in the mirror. Maybe you felt pressured because you thought that wearing something more revealing would grab a boy’s attention or would cause you to be invited to hang out with a certain group of people, and all you wanted was to belong and to be noticed.

In 1 Peter 3:3-4, Peter speaks about fashion, with the power of the Holy Spirit, telling us that our beauty should not come from fancy hair or expensive gold jewelry or nice clothes. “Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” How we clothe our hearts will overflow into the decisions we make regarding how we clothe our bodies. Solomon warns us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything that you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23), including the clothes that we wear.

Adorned

I love how God always addresses what is in a person’s heart instead of simply talking about the symptoms of an issue because He knows that everything that we do flows from what is in our hearts. God is so personal, and He cares so much about us. This is why in Colossians 3:12-14, Paul says, “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. . . . And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

When we adorn our heart with the heart of God, we will begin to reflect Him in all that we do—including our wardrobe. To adorn our hearts with God’s heart is to walk hand in hand with Him and live wholeheartedly for Him. Our beauty does not come from outward adornment. Makeup and pretty dresses and jewelry are so much fun, but they are not our true source of beauty, and the affirmation of others is not our source of belonging. I just adore how what is precious in God’s sight is a gentle and quiet spirit and that it holds unfading beauty. “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised,” and this is because a godly heart is so attractive (Proverbs 31:30). Outward beauty only lasts for a little while, but a heart after God’s own heart is being renewed daily, and it blesses other people. This is a trend that will never go out of style.

A Gentle Spirit

Peter also tells us to have a gentle and quiet spirit, but what does this mean? It is not to be reserved or to keep to yourself or to be someone who never speaks up, but rather it is to be confident in who the Lord has made you to be and to know that He has called you by name. He has engraved you upon the palm of His hand (Isaiah 49:16), and this is your belonging, and this is your beauty. In this world, you will have different labels and expectations targeting your heart, but when you know who you are in Christ, you do not have to become loud and chaotic with the world. Rather, your heart can remain peaceful and still because you already know who you are and whose you are.

In this chapter, I purposefully made no lists of what to wear and what not to wear because whatever we dress our hearts with will overflow into what we dress our bodies with. There is a sweet and powerful transformation that takes place when we know who we are in Christ, because we begin to dress to honor the Lord instead of dressing to impress the world.