Beauty Tips: How To Attract A Man To God - 1 Peter 3:1-3 Series

1 Peter 3:1 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4 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. 5 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, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. 7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Introduction

For many years, the feminist movement tried to convince women not to concern themselves with beauty. They said it’s demeaning.

“Why spend all kinds of time and money and energy and effort into making yourself attractive just for the enjoyment of some man? Why should you turn yourself into an object to be ogled and objectified and dehumanized? Just go ahead and be ugly, and try to feel good about yourself anyway.”

But even after decades of preaching that message, their effort was a complete failure. And if you doubt that, just look at how many billions of dollars women spend every year on fashion, makeup, hairstyling, jewelry, cosmetic surgery, fitness memberships, diets, and anything else that will enhance their attractiveness. The feminists could not overcome God’s design. A cheetah is obviously built for speed. An ox is obviously designed for strength. And a woman is clearly designed for beauty.

And so, much to the chagrin of the Gloria Steinem types, most women want very much to be beautiful. And they like to have their beauty noticed and enjoyed. For most women it would make their day if they overheard someone talking behind their back and saying, “She is absolutely gorgeous.”

Is that demeaning? If you say that is demeaning to women you would also have to say it is demeaning to God because God takes great pleasure in being enjoyed as beautiful. God goes to great lengths to put His beauty on display for us to enjoy, and when we gaze upon it and take delight in it that glorifies and pleases Him. It is not demeaning – it is honoring.

That is why God made the creation beautiful. We cannot see Him with our physical eyes, so to give us an illustration of His beauty, God created things in the creation that reflect and illustrate His beauty. That is true of the mountains, waterfalls, flowers, sunsets, and the most beautiful thing God ever created – the woman.

If you are unfamiliar with the book of 1 Peter it might come as a surprise to you to discover a whole section in chapter 3 devoted to beauty tips for women. From verses 3-6 Peter gives women instructions on how to be more beautiful. So if it is not already obvious to you just from observation that God designed women for beauty, and that women should strive to be more beautiful, then this passage should erase any doubt. God is beautiful, His beauty is reflected in His creation, and therefore beautiful things in the creation should remain beautiful. It is a bad thing to go up in the mountains and leave a bunch of trash on the ground, we are all glad there is not a big, ugly factory at the bottom of Bridalveil Falls in Yosemite, we don’t want air pollution to block our view of the stars. Those things point to the glory of God, and their beauty should be celebrated. And if that is true, then how much more should we celebrate the most beautiful thing God ever created in this world – the female human being? Women should do all they can to be more beautiful because according to verse 4 their beauty is of great worth in God’s sight. So ladies, just by walking around being beautiful, you glorify God.

And women are unique among all the other beautiful things God made, because they have the power to make themselves more or less beautiful. Bridalveil Falls cannot help being beautiful. Nor can it make itself more beautiful. But women can do things that either mar their beauty or that increase it. And increasing it is important enough to merit a whole section in God’s holy Word for instructions on how to go about it.