Inner Beauty

If you wanted to find rare and exquisite treasure, where would you look? One place to look is inside of a godly mother. The Apostle Peter exhorted women to prize inner beauty more than outer beauty because it is “the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight” (1 Pet 3:4). This is an enormous challenge for a woman today living in a world where such inordinate significance is placed on outward appearance. Our culture screams out loudly that outer beauty is everything—but this is yet another lie that so many accept as truth.

This past Sunday was Mother’s Day, and I want to pay tribute to all the mothers who day in and day out demonstrate this inner beauty for their families. My mother has always been a giving mother, putting her family first. My wife has also demonstrated that quality for our children. I have seen this inner beauty in both of them.

When Moses needed more bronze to make one final item (the basin) for the tabernacle in the desert, some special women who helped in the tabernacle volunteered their bronze mirrors (Ex 38:8). Undoubtedly these women had received these mirrors from their Egyptian mistresses right before the Exodus. These mirrors would have been extremely valuable and certainly were useful to the women in making themselves beautiful. These women, however, must have caught a glimpse of what God was doing in the tabernacle and wanted to be part of it. In giving those valuable mirrors, they demonstrated for us their inner beauty.

This inner beauty is displayed by mothers every time they demonstrate self-control and teach that self-control to their children. For example, what a beautiful sight to see a mother control her emotions, especially her anger, which may be the hardest emotion to regulate. Anger is one of the most debilitating and unpredictable emotions known to humans. When a mother demonstrates restraint in the face of a frustrating or disappointing situation, she is modeling the inner beauty that will be reflected in her family.

Outer beauty may be appealing, but it is also fleeting; however, inner beauty is permanent and transformative. It is this beauty that helps a child learn how to control his emotions and face difficult circumstances with the right attitude. The inner beauty of a mother helps a child learn to think logically and biblically and make good choices. Unlike the outer beauty that fades with time, the inner beauty is unfading and is of great worth to God and all of us.