What Matters Most?

What Matters Most?

Q: What does not last?

• a. wisdom
• b. beauty
• c. love

Every year there are many beauty pageants. There’s Miss America and Miss Universe as well as local and state beauty contests. Some of the pageants include displays of talent or questions for the contestants to answer, but without outward beauty, the contestants wouldn’t be there.

What do you think the winners will look like 10, 20, or 30 years down the road? Chances are, their bodies won’t be as firm, and their faces won’t be wrinkle free. Physical beauty changes with the years. The young beauty is replaced by a more mature look—or else a lot of money is spent for procedures and products to keep the appearance of youth.

The good thing is that real beauty—inner beauty—doesn’t fade. In fact, it becomes stronger. The things that happen in life shape who you are on the inside. The trials of life—money issues, the death of family members or friends, problems at school and work, health problems, challenges of moving—make some people bitter, but they cause others to draw closer to the Lord. People who allow God’s Spirit to work in them during times of testing will grow in their faith and relationship to the Lord, and that is evident by a godly attitude and outlook on life. They develop inner beauty that shines through.

If you think you’re off the hook because you’re a boy reading this devotional, you’re not. Men care about their looks, too, and they fight to look as muscular and fit as they did in their younger years. They see the passing of time in weathered skin and thinning hair. But just as with women, it’s the inner character that counts.

For You

Good looks are temporary. Make sure you spend more time developing godly character through Bible reading, prayer, and serving God than you do on your outward appearance.

Answer: b

Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised.   Proverbs 31:30

(The Whole Story: Proverbs 31)