Hello again, sisters!
In Esther 2:11-15, we see Esther in a rather exciting, yet anticipatory time in her life. The King is looking for a new queen, and Esther has been chosen out of many beautiful women in her province to be considered for the position. (Almost like the ultimate “Dating Game” – only the ancient royal Persian version!) Before any of the women were presented to the King for his consideration, they underwent an incredible beauty treatment – six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetics. Six months for each treatment! (Anyone complain to you about how long it takes you to get ready?? Now that’s high maintenance!)
For those of us who are married, remember when you would get ready for a date with your husband? (Some of us may have to reach back in the memory bank a bit….) For those of you who are single – think about an important date or event that caused a bit of preparation. I remember when I was dating my husband…I wanted just the right outfit, something that made me look good, but not that I was trying too hard; something appropriate for the outing. I needed the right makeup, the right shoes – you get the picture. Sometimes I would shop for something new (even though my oldest shirt would have been new to him!), and I definitely called my Mom, sister, and several friends to get their opinions on how to present myself. On date night I would spend quite some time preparing myself to put my best foot forward. I would be nervous and excited and would count the minutes until I heard his knock on my door. Sound familiar to any of you?
Likewise, in our own lives, we are preparing to meet our King—Jesus! We know that when we are presented as his Bride that we want to be our best. The wonderful difference in our scenario is that 1) we know that when we belong to Jesus, He has already accepted us, so we need not fear rejection when we meet him; and 2) Jesus is not concerned with how we look on the outside; He looks at our heart (1 Samuel 16:7). So if Jesus is not looking for our best outfit, but looking for our best “inside person,” how do we get that ready? What beauty treatments are going to help us make that wonderful presentation of our ultimate selves to the King?
Darlene reminds us of a lovely Scripture.
1 Peter 3:3-5 (NIV)
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.
Instead, 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.
For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands.
Now let me just put this argument to rest …. Does this Scripture say that it is unbiblical to braid your hair, wear jewelry or get dressed up? NO. What it says is that your beauty should not be skin deep. Hair, jewelry, and clothes are all perishable and therefore are undependable. They aren’t the mark of true beauty, which comes from the inside. No one and nothing can take away your true beauty!
When the Holy Spirit is your helper (like Hegai helped Esther), and you follow His beauty advice, the result is amazing. Galatians 5:22 tells us what a beautiful woman looks like, one who is ready to meet her King (you might also know this verse as describing the fruits of the Spirit).
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Our “beauty regimen” should consist of daily cultivation of the fruits of the Spirit. I say daily cultivation because we don’t just wake up filled with all of the patience or gentleness we will need for the rest of our lives, do we? Every day situations will present themselves that will require us to practice those fruits. You want patience? Be careful what you pray for – you will only develop patience when you are placed in a situation that requires you to be patient. The same for all of the fruits. The same for our lives of submission and obedience to Christ.
Every day we will be presented opportunities to follow, to submit, to obey, and to believe. We will become better followers when we make the choice to fall in behind the leader, and then act accordingly. Not the most submissive wife yesterday? You know what? That’s ok – but be different today. Rebelling against authority figures in your life? Choose to be different today. Resistant to the leading of Jesus? Change and be different today! You can’t do anything about the past except repent of it, ask God to forgive you, and then choose to act differently today! That is how we get ready for the King. Daily ask God – “How can You make me more beautiful today? Holy Spirit, can You show me how to be more like Christ today? Can You show me how to be more submissive…more obedient?” Ask, and then trust that just like Hegai, the Holy Spirit will show you exactly what is needed today to be gorgeous—a radiant light that shines for the King!
Let’s Pray:
Holy Spirit, thank You for being our ultimate Helper! Help us today to see our beauty not as the world sees it, in the outward woman, but as our Father sees it. Help us in our “beauty regimen”, to make ourselves pure, holy and beautiful for our Lord Jesus. Forgive us when we are resistant to Your leading. Thank You for the great example of an obedient spirit in Esther, and help us to develop our own obedient spirit! Thank You for Your abundant blessings and protection! In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.
About Robin Caddell
Robin, this is such a good study this morning. Thank you for bringing out points I hadn’t considered before. What fun it is to study God’s Word together!
“Galatians 5:22 tells us what a beautiful woman looks like…Our ‘beauty regimen’ should consist of daily cultivation of the fruits of the Spirit.” I definitely need to put a list of the fruit of the Spirit in my make-up case, what a difference it might make in my daily “appearance!” Often in the Word, oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Esther received 6 months of daily anointing with oil! My prayer is, “Lord, please anoint me afresh with the oil of Your Holy Spirit so my inner beauty will become more evident to You and those around me. Amen.”
I am amazed of how long the preparation/purification Esther underwent. It is also the same in our Christian walk as God purifies, polishes, refines us to become what He originally planned for us. I was smiling if we put it literally reading/studying the bible and prayer before getting out of bed and before going to bed is part of my beauty regimen. 🙂 thank you Robin for blessing us with your gift. God bless you!
God bless you, too! How awesome would it be to have Bible and prayer time before going to bed and before getting out of bed?? That would make for sweet dreams and a positive start to your day, for sure! 🙂
Robin what a wonderful reminder for us to check our beauty regimen! I am truly trying to prepare myself for my King! My Heavenly Father! I am trying to make sure that my inner beauty is on point 🙂 Thanks for the lovely blog!
Thanks Robin for yet another beautiful blog. Beauty is more than outer looks. Women and men alike need this reminder. If we spent half the time on our insides as outsides whew. Can u imagine the world? Our walk with Jesus should be more important than anything.amen.
Thanks Tonya and Kim! We DO need to make time for our inner beauty – it’s the only one that lasts! (And it’s more fruitful than me trying to figure out my hair……. lol!)
so thankful for God’s plan for the Holy Spirit’s influence, and guiding and leading, helping us, changing us, perfecting us…beautifying us! by His mercy and grace! praying your prayer along with you, robin <3
Right on, Coleen! Where would we be without the Holy Spirit? Nowhere and helpless! So grateful for His daily influence!
Love this! At one time, some one (maybe Megan) posted how she prayed as she got ready – as she showered thanking God for the cleansing flow of His blood & new mercies each day for fresh starts, Moisturizer – He softens our hearts, make-up – being the foundations of our life, mascara – opening our eyes to see as He does, accessories – accessorizing us with the fruits of the Spirit. Somewhere along the way I stopped doing this. Your blog was a wonderful reminder! Also makes me consider what I do daily. Am i beautiful inside? Do I think about that as much as my outward appearance? Thanks Robin
You’re so welcome! 🙂 Aren’t we reminded constantly about how we need to look by media and the world?? It’s crazy! And yet, when we focus on our inward beauty, it transforms us from the inside and shows on the outside. (And I’m sure the answer to your question is “YES!” – you are beautiful on the inside – it shows in your pretty smile!)
Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If we don’t see these areas of fruit in our lives, we need to go to God and ask for a heart-check. And then when He shows us what needs to be worked on, be willing to do the work!! I see areas in my own life that need work.
Thank God that He loves us so very much that He will reveal these areas to us, and then walk with us as we go through the necessary heart changes!
Thank you Robin. Beautiful blog today!
Christi, you’ve hit on a fantastic point – if we have a fruit that needs “pruning”, we need to be willing to do the work! So often we are afraid to ask God to show us areas that need work – almost like we don’t want God to see our faults and imperfections – but he WANTS to help us make those heart changes, like you mentioned! How awesome to serve a God that won’t throw our flaws in our face – he wants to make us more beautiful! 😀
Insightful.
Thanks, Sandy. I’m glad you’re doing the study with us! 🙂
Great blog post for today
Great job!
Loved this reminder!