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Q2. Outer vs. Inner Beauty


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On 3/5/2004 at 5:49 AM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q2. (3:3) Why should women try to look their best? How can trying to look their best divert women from what is more important? What is the balance?

Women are trying to look their best in order to be attractive to both man and God. When women are after outward beauty with fancy hair do, jewellery and fine clothes without considering the character or behaviour that of inner beauty they will be diverted. The balance is by dressing moderately plus good character as a committed Christian.

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Q2. (3:3)

Q. Why should women try to look their best?

A. To look attractive to their husbands or for the un-married, to their prospective partners.

Q. How can trying to look their best divert women from what is more important?

A. Concentrating on outward beauty is to divert so much energy and resources to the physical at the expense of time and resources for the spiritual that has more eternal value.

Q. What is the balance?


A. Try to look good but do not let your effort and resources be drained on that. Rather, let the beauty and attitude of Christ be our yardstick for beauty, doing that which will please the Lord God Almighty.

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Q2. (3:3) 
Why should women try to look their best? 
How can trying to look their best divert women from what is more important? 
What is the balance?

Out of respect for themselves and their family Christian women should always try and look their best. At the same time, they must keep a proper balance, recognizing that beauty and adornments have their place, but knowing that the key to lasting beauty is what is inside them. They must not necessarily conform to social pressures. Christian women should rather let their beauty come from within, others should see an unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. The Christian women will have been transformed by the Holy Spirit, and their beauty is seen in their personality, their attitudes, their thoughts, and their motivations. Her inner faith and character will shine through reflecting the light of Christ; drawing attention not to herself but to her Lord.  
 

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Q2. (3:3) Why should women try to look their best? How can trying to look their best divert women from what is more important? What is the balance?

Women should try to look their best, first of all because we reflect Jesus. We represent God's kingdom. We are sons and daughters of the King of Kings. Therefore, we should make every effort to dress modestly and with honor. We also have to look our best for our husbands. Men tend to be visual and so we have to keep ourselves nicely kept so their interests will be in their wives. Like a preacher once said, there's so many beautiful women out in the workforce that our husbands come across, and for the husband to come home to a sloppy looking wife is asking for trouble. I agree.

Today, women spend too much time trying to look like the next model. Too much competition. Taking too many selfies.  It's sad that we don't spend enough time improving our inner being as we do our outer. There should be a balance. If your inner qualities are deep and strong, your appearance will take care of itself.  "Self respect, discipline, grace, intelligence, kindness, tenacity, grit, courage - all the qualities of a strong inner self are what true outer beauty are developed from anyway.  A woman's outer beauty - physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally are all built on the strength and depth of her inner self".

 

 

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God created us as a reflection of Him, and usually the first impression we make is our external appearance. We want that impression to carry over to our internal appearance. When all that is important is our outward appearance, then we aren’t glorifying God. The balance is to care for our external appearance, but not to the detriment of who we are internally, a child of God. 

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(3:3) Why should women try to look their best? How can trying to look their best divert women from what is more important? What is the balance?

Women looking their best is a reflection on their husbands and on God.  It also help to build up the woman confidence in herself.  A woman trying to look her best can divert her from the beauty that is most important and that is her inner beauty.  The balance would be to cultivate on the inner beauty and the outer beauty will be automatic.  

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On 3/5/2004 at 0:49 AM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q2. (3:3) Why should women try to look their best? How can trying to look their best divert women from what is more important? What is the balance?

We should try to look our best for Jesus as we should want to please Him. This is a slippery topic though since I do believe that we should also want to look our best for our husbands but not at the expense of becoming like a slave. Let me elaborate a bit using myself and my husband. My husband loves when I wear skirts. I do too, but I also love when I wear other attire, not to accentuate anything that should be for his eyes, but simply because I also like other items, modest of course. If it was up to him, he would have me in a skirt all day every day even in the house. If I did that to please Him, some would say that is an act of submission. I would say that is more like slavery. I should take into consideration his likes because he is the one I lay next to and I want his eyes on me. However, in me expressing my inner beauty, it shouldn't make him feel disrespected if I wanted to wear jeans and sneakers to go for a walk versus a skirt. He should appreciate that I am not only his wife but an individual. Women shouldn't wake up in the morning trying to look good for our spouses. Instead we should wake up wanting to please God. If we are pleasing Him, everything else will fall into place. I don't derive my beauty from outward attire, yet I do think there is a balance. At the end of the day, when your heart and soul is right with the Creator, this is what is displayed for the world and this inner beauty will shine brighter than any jewelry, adornments, or clothing.

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Q2. (3:3) Why should women try to look their best? How can trying to look their best divert women from what is more important? What is the balance?

 

1.  Good grooming is always appropriate because it reflects not only on other christians,but on their husbands, and on God. A woman should keep her self neat and clean. That also reflects on their children and other family.If you say you are a christian and look like something kinda crazy, it can push others away.

 

2.  Women that concentrate a lot on their physical beauty will find out latter in life that it fades away. When women over cultivate their inner life, their spiritual life, and their inner beauty that diverts from their beauty that is lasting and very attractive to both man and God.

 

3. The balance is for women to keep themselves clean and neat, but concentrate on Godly (spiritual) things more than their beauty. Putting God first and above everything.

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On 3/4/2004 at 11:49 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q2. (3:3) Why should women try to look their best? How can trying to look their best divert women from what is more important? What is the balance?

Women should try to look their best for their husbands. As time passes their inner beauty should radiate because their outer beauty has faded.

Some women may try so hard to look their outer best that they have ignored their jobs, husbands and the Lords work.

The balance is to groom themselves so that they bring honour to their husbands and God. Grooming should be done modestly to radiate beauty in the outer and inner self.       

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Q2. (3:3) Why should women try to look their best? How can trying to look their best divert women from what is more important? What is the balance?

All people should try to look their best before God, both physically and spiritually; for God does not look at the outside or the physical appearance but at the spiritual appearance. God explained to  Saul while he was viewing Jesse's Sons ,one of which was to be anointed as king that " the Lord sees not on his appearance or on the height of his stature- man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart".

Both men and women can be influenced by caring too much about their physical appearance. If we care too much about our physical appearance we will forget to strengthen our inner relationship with God the Father God the son and God the Holy Spirit. However, it is necessary to strike a balance between the two.

 

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First we should acknowledge that trying to look your best does not or should not mean drawing attention to yourself. As one preacher would say " if your pretty outside and ugly inside, that just makes you pretty ugly." One could be well dressed and handsome or extremely pretty but if Nothing (no opinions), lawlessness or garbage comes out your mouth or your actions do not show modestly, you might as well be the vilest of all mankind. On the other hand you must be reminded that God is Holy and loves glory and beauty (Ex 28:40; 1 Ch 16:29)  and there is a growing trend, that our heart is what is important in appearing before Him on the Lord's day, meaning we put on any old thing, things that we would not appear before our Governor (Mal 1:8) or people we consider important, or for a secular function. But does our heart action God's reverence or holiness? One thing the old people had right with respect to dressing on the Lord's day was their Sunday best or their Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes, even if they were in error about some things. we need also to remember that Sunday is from midnight to midnight. If we cannot find out who did away with that practice then we need to go back to that. Then again that's only my opinion

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We should make every effort to be as attractive as we can.  But when that is the goal for us--getting the most expensive articles to wear or spending hours getting our "tent" ready---our bodies become an idol.  We should spend equal time in actively seeking to be changed by the Holy Spirit--spiritual beauty--on the inside. This is the balance.

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Q2. (3:3) Why should women try to look their best? How can trying to look their best divert women from what is more important? What is the balance?

Women should be good looking inside and outside depend of the Situation because of nature creation of God, also as Christian women wear us love of God in our Heart and thanks for my life cause nobody like me self.

I must be happy and thanks you God for I am a woman.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Q2. (3:3) Why should women try to look their best? How can trying to look their best divert women from what is more important? What is the balance?

Women should try to look their best because they are showing appreciation for God's gift to them; showing forth God's glory.   Trying to look their best can divert women from what is more important when they forsake the things of God to labor on outer beauty.  A women should give due diligence to show forth the glory of God in all she does. 

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  • 6 years later...

I’m not sure women should strive to look their best. God does not care what we look like --  nowhere in scripture are admonitions to dress smartly, be svelte, wear make-up and jewelry, etc. In the NT, there is an admonition to be modest and not cut long hair, (most women cut their hair – hmmm.) 

Men are obsessed with attractive women, a huge problem for them. Perhaps we should be pointing at the cause of why women feel compelled to dress to attract – men. But ... the finger pointing goes both ways. Women are just as guilty of looking at men who are powerful, wealthy and otherwise capable of providing and protecting them. Men feel compelled to strut their success to attract us.

This problem isn’t new.  It's not only a feature in the contemporary West for all peoples at all times have dolled up women for men to look at – and in all cultures, women strive to woo men with success written across their forehead, however defined.

I attend a all-women’s group weekly.  We usually wear jeans and sweatshirts. No one bothers to look good because we’re tired and the day is over (it starts at 5pm). However ... once a month we have an “open” meeting in which men are invited, and yes, I’ve noticed that the women look at bit better when men are present!

This surprised me.

It is silly to self-justify or convince ourselves that we're trying to look good for God – that’s just not true. We are trying to look good for men (compete against other women in front of men). Few of us are self-confident enough to transcend this game. Similarly, men preen for women with their sports cars, worsted suits, titles, investments, etc.

--

God wants us to look to Him alone. When we're in our prayer closets, we don't feel compelled to look good but are focused on Him in prayer and study. This is what God wants. Our complete attention. Our love. Our worship.

If we're having a bad hair day, He doesn't care. Not a whit.

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