Celebrating Womanhood!

5 Holy women of long ago who had set their hopes in God beautified themselves with lives lived in deference to their own husbands’ authority. 6 For example, our “mother,” Sarah, devoted herself to her husband, Abraham, and even called him “master.” And you have become her daughters when you do what is right without fear and intimidation.

Dr. Ray Pritchard of Keep Believing Ministries- Check out any contemporary magazine for women and you will discover that the world’s view of beauty is based almost entirely on external appearance. The current issue of People magazine features page after page of attractive young pop culture icons, wearing the latest fashions and showing off their current boyfriend or girlfriend.

Dr. Ray Pritchard of Keep Believing Ministries- I spent several hours this week leafing through three women’s magazines, looking at the ads and the articles. Here are a few things I found:

“Amazing body makeovers! Try the winning plan.”

“Her look says it all. Incredibly stylish. Irresistibly beautiful.”

“Want younger looking skin in 14 days? Reduce lines nearly 50% in 2 weeks.”

“ Expert tips and makeover tricks to get your best look now.”

Dr. Ray Pritchard of Keep Believing Ministries- The desire for outward beauty is neither wrong nor unnatural. Everything God creates has its own sort of beauty. The word translated “adornment” comes from the Greek word kosmos, which means an orderly arrangement, from which we get the English word cosmetics. God gave us the inner desire for beauty, design and order in nature.

Dr. Ray Pritchard of Keep Believing Ministries- What makes a Christian woman truly beautiful? “The unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.” There’s a lot to ponder in that statement. What is unfading beauty? It’s beauty that doesn’t depend solely on mascara or eye shadow or lip gloss or silk skirts or contact lens or the latest fashions. It’s beauty that is just as beautiful when you’re 57 as when you are 17. It’s unfading and therefore never goes out of style and never has to be replaced. This is how women get more beautiful as they grow older. Their gentle and quiet spirit shines through so that as their physical beauty diminishes, their inner beauty remains. In the truest sense, they are more beautiful in the end than at the beginning. The word “gentle” translates a common Greek word that means meek. That’s a powerful concept that Jesus used to describe himself in Matthew 11:29. Meekness is “my power under God’s control.”

My lips under God’s control.

My eyes under God’s control.

My ears under God’s control.

My thoughts under God’s control.

My emotions under God’s control.

My actions under God’s control.

My attitudes under God’s control.

My responses under God’s control.

My relationships under God’s control.

Dr. Ray Pritchard of Keep Believing Ministries- The “gentle” spirit is one where the Christian woman lives under the moment-by-moment leading of the Holy Spirit. The word “quiet” is an unusual Greek word that means tranquil or undisturbed, like the surface of a lake on a windless afternoon. It describes a heart that is not easily ruffled by the cares and concerns of life. If the husband is the head of the home, the wife is the heart of the home. She sets the emotional tone for the entire family. She sets the tone by her own spirit. Everyone else resonates to the note she sounds. If the home is peaceful, quiet, restful, it is because the wife has created that atmosphere. If the home is hectic, loud, disorganized and strident, it is also because the wife has set that tone by her own spirit.