Appearances Can Be Deceiving

A Precious Adornment

Young women make the mistake of putting their trust in their faces or forms while neglecting their incorruptible assets. We all know the verse in 1 Peter 3:3-4: “Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God” (NKJV).

God admonishes us not to allow our adornment to be merely outward or superficial. He is not telling us not to adorn ourselves. He is not advocating the neglect of our hair, the wearing of rags or the absence of jewelry.

But the emphasis of our adornment should be on the inside, not the outside. He wants us to adorn our hearts with His unfading, quiet and gentle beauty. It doesn’t age, can’t be stolen and doesn’t turn gray.

Because God’s perspective is eternity, He is letting us in on His secret beauty prescription. It is an intimate beauty, one reserved for the eyes of God.

When you have that inner peace and rest, the world will notice it more than they’ll notice your newest designer outfit, hair color or jewelry. Those in the world have all those outward things, but what they don’t have is peace, “which is of great worth in God’s sight” (1 Pet. 3:4, NIV).

People in the world have a confused standard for value and worth. They drape themselves to hide their emptiness while we purify ourselves to gain transparency. They hide while we shine.

Unfortunately, we have allowed the marketing of the world’s illusions to influence our outward projections and veil our inward reflection.

Because we have judged by appearances, we often misjudge. Adornment is like a beautiful glass bowl that holds wax fruit. It is exquisitely crafted and forged of cut crystal, yet holds in its beauty fruit that is artificial and tasteless. The fruit may look initially inviting because it is surrounded by outward beauty, but if handled or sampled, the fruit will soon be revealed as worthless.

Somewhere in the pantry there is a worn and tattered crate that holds real produce. It is not beautiful, yet it bears what is delicious, fresh and life-giving. If you were hungry—hungry for truth, hungry for the real—you’d turn from the beauty of the cut crystal bowl filled with artificial fruit and head for the useful, fruitful crate.

God judges us by our fruit, not our fruit bowls. He wants our inner adornment to be fresh and useful, not cold and beautiful yet artificial.

Let us not judge others by the packaging of outward appearances. And let us develop that inward beauty that not only shines in bright contrast to the appearances of the world, but also attracts the very heart of God.

Lisa Bevere is the author of the best-selling book Out of Control and Loving It! She is also a popular speaker in churches and women’s conferences around the country. Adapted from The True Measure of a Woman by Lisa Bevere, copyright 1997. Published by Creation House. Used by permission.