Saturday, September 8, 2018

The Treasure of a Woman

We search, we try hard, we seek.  We feel overworked and overwhelmed.  Life is exhausting, but it shouldn't be defeating.

Each woman possesses a treasure, but few unlock the chest it's contained in.  This is not about a quick or temporary fix.  It's real.  It's lasting.  it can be yours.  Just watch out for pirates.

We can find this buried treasure of beauty within ourselves by knowing

1. Where to dig
2. What to look for
3. Protecting ourselves against pirates.

What are the three words any woman wants to hear?


We as women love affirmation and encouragement.  If I asked you to look at a photo of yourself at a young age what would you tell yourself?

Would you tell her all the things you say when you look in the mirror? 

a. You're too fat
b. You're ugly
c. You're stupid
d. You can't do anything right

What would you tell this girl?

You would hug her and tell her that she IS beautiful, that she CAN do anything she sets her mind to

Phil $:13 
For I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me (NLT)  Nothing is impossible when we turn to God.
You would also tell this girl that God created her.  

Isaiah 44:2 says  "This is the word of the Lord your Maker who formed you from the womb.  Not only has he created you,  He has created you in His own image!  Gen 1:27 " God created man in his own image; He created him in the image  of God; 

Ladies, God does not make mistakes!  If we don't like our image what are we saying about God?  Honestly, how many of us are at peace with our image?  Can you look in the mirror and like what you see?

I used to avoid looking in the mirror as much as possible, I was a person who didn't like having her picture taken.  What changed my thoughts?   It was when I looked at the pictures of my beautiful girls and realized how much they looked at me and how beautiful they are.   How can I tell them that they are beautiful if I keep rejecting the fact that God created me in His image?  What am I teaching my girls? Am I teaching them to do the same?

Worldly Beauty - Where not to look.

So what defines beauty?

According to Webster's Dictionary beautiful is defined as having qualities of beauty: exciting, aesthetic pleasure.

We can look around us every day and see this, it is in advertising, magazines and on television, social media and billboards. 

The world would love to tell us

How we should act
What to wear
and How to look.

Let's face it everywhere we look, whether online or in person at stores we are bombarded with anti-wrinkle products, hair products and showing us the clothing we SHOULD be wearing.  This leaves us wanting more and making us feel we are not good enough.  The world is self-serving and prideful.  The world wants us to believe it's all about ME.  We see women being obsessed bt a self-image that fits the world's view; pushing them to a never-ending" pursuit on an elusive goal that leads them to a breaking point.  They are robbed of the true joy of being the woman God created them to be.   They eventually suffer from low self-esteem because they can't keep up with the world's expectations.

The Bible tells us not to conform to the world


We are to alter our thinking, by meditating on God's word and "renewing" our minds.  We can do this by constantly being in the Word, reading our Bibles.

Biblical or Godly Beauty Where Should We Look

How does the Bible look at beauty?
1 Peter 3:3 says  " Don't be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes.  

Peter certainly said a mouthful here.  If we investigate the culture of the time, a husband's wealth was defined by how elaborate their wives hair was, braiding gold and jewels into their hair and displaying how expensive their clothing was.  Basically, the women were "one-upping" each other.  Keeping up with the Jones's so to speak.  Now, this doesn't mean that we can't wear jewelry or get our hair done oe Wear nice clothes,  God wants us to look after ourselves and have a tidy appearance.  Just do everything in moderation! At times we tend to substitute external things for the right behavior or attitude.  What Peter wants us to focus on is our inward character as he points out in the following verse:  1 Peter 3:4 You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious to God.  
What is this gentle and quiet spirit?
Gentle means not isnsestent one's own rights' or not pushy, not selfishly assertive, not demanding one's own way.

Matthew Henry says "the finest ornament of Christian women is a meek and quiet spirit, a tractable easy temper of mind, void of passion, pride and immoderate anger, discovering itself in a quiet obliging behavior toward their husbands and families."  

Look at Sari/ Sarah, in Gen 12, she followed Abraham into the desert, was taken into the haram of  Pharoah all without any complaint!

scripture says a woman that has an internal heart attitude of meekness or gentleness and a quiet spirit has a beauty that is imperishable.
It's a beauty that will never fade away.

A woman who is gentle understands at the deepest level God is in control.  She doesn't have to be anxious about her circumstances because she knows God loves her.  She has the incorruptible, never fading beauty that beautifies the soul, that is, the graces and virtues of God's Holy Spirit.

The Hidden Gems


What are the hidden gems of Galatians 5:22?  Diamonds in the rough are geodes, just a normal looking rock until you break it open... inside is the real beauty of the rock!

You are defined by  your cut, color, carat, and clarity... you are the diamond in the making, and that requires time, heat and pressure.   God uses the time, heat and pressures of life to refine us and shape us.  Every little trouble, every hard day, every irritable person we deal with is a refining process for us.

Diamonds are beautiful and are the hardest known naturally occurring mineral.  However, what most of us like best about the mineral is the way it sparkles.  When we are the Christian women God intended us to be, we can sparkle and shine.  Diamonds don't start out beautiful, they are formed deep in the earth.  It's just like when we come to Christ for salvation.  We come from deep within sin.  Ask any jeweler and they will tell you that one of the characteristics of a diamond is clarity.  This is whether there is the presence of any impurities or inclusions in the diamond.  As a Christian, others may not see our impurities or our sins because it may not be visible with the naked eye, but we must remember that for us to really sparkle for Christ we must allow Him to reflect through us. 

There is another precious gem, the pearl.  God takes a grain of sand and changes it into a pearl.  Peals come from oysters, what God does is he places the sand in the oyster and the sand becomes an irritant to the oyster.  The oyster than forms a protective coating around the sand and the pearl is formed.  God works the same way to build our characters into a beautiful precious gem!  And, we are more precious than any pearl.

Inside of us are some very precious gems: love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  In Galatians 5:19-21, we see the carnal, worldly attributes of human nature:  " When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these".NLT
We must believe in Jesus, that He died and rose again to take our sins away, to have the indwelling of the Holdy Spirit.  It's the Holy Spirit within us that produces the fruit we need for living a life that reflects these precious gems in our life.

Gentleness characterizes godly women.

When Peter speaks specifically to women about the need for gentleness, exhorting us to have "gentle and quiet spirits", he is warning women particularly against seeking beauty in outward appearance. Gentleness for women means trusting God for the things in life that can lead to fear, including the fear that comes with the comparison.  When our outward appearance, whether physical beauty or social behaviors. begins to consume our thoughts, we are trusting in ourselves to produce attraction, friendship, respect an approval.

In God's sight, the woman who trusts Him fully and rests in Him is full of precious gems and is eternally beautiful!

Yare a chosen and valuable treasure!
You are valuable to God
Col. 3:12 says "We are God's chosen people holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience". Just like God creates the pearls, diamonds and makes them precious gems we are even more valuable to God.  He has chosen us from the beginning, He knew us before we were formed.   God loves us,  He has chosen us to bring out those hidden treasures to those around us, to be outfitted and adorned with the precious gems of compassion and kindness.   That means we truly care about everyone, we show them the love and mercy that God shows us.  Like the clear and sparkling diamond, we are reflection our savior and all His glory for everyone to see.  

we are to be humble, not thinking ourselves better than the next person.

You are a diamond in the making, and that requires, time, heat and pressure...God will use the trials, blessings, joys, and sadness of life to refine us and shape us into a precious gem.

Satan's Liehe

Remember those pirates I mentioned?  The pirates are the lies we believe.  Paul put it this way "When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.  But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power".  Satan is the ruler of this world and he would love nothing more than to make us feel unworthy and unloved.

How many times have you lost your temper?

Your self-control?
Your patience?

It's an ongoing process, isn't it?  Thankfully we have the love of our heavenly Father that keeps us on track.  If we keep in His word every day, and pray, (prayer is a very strong weapon against our enemy)  we can defeat our foe.

The Bible tells you the war has already been won, yet some days you simply feel undone.  The struggle is real!  The enemy of your soul wants you to feel out of control, overwhelmed, outwitted and under-resourced.  When you listen to the lies the enemy, he tries to weave those lies into your marriage, your finances, your relationships, and your health.   Through this, Satan can wreak havoc, steal your joy, kill your hope.  Satan's claim is not to just dull, but to destroy the power of God in your life.

We've all fallen and been banged up by life, we are all broken and flawed.  But, we are still "precious gems" and incredibly valuable because God designed and created us.  On every page, every chapter, and in every book of His Word, God tells you He loves you.  Like a diamond, reflect His light into a dark world in need of a Savior.  The love of God is bigger than your brokenness.  It's stronger than your past regrets and deeper than any failure or fear you may feel.

Let Him love you the way you are.  

Your life may not be perfect, but like the pearl, His love will coat over the irritating sands of life and make a beautiful pearl in your heart.  Remember, it is His love that makes you a lovely precious gem in His sight.