Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. (Proverbs 1:8-9)
My wife and I stood in a long line with a sense of eager anticipation as we filed into a fortress-like structure with armed guards stationed strategically along the way. We were about to see the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. In a dark room in the bowels of the Tower of London, there they were a breathtakingly beautiful display of crowns and orbs and scepters and brooches of inestimable beauty and value. We were impressed. God…not so much.
Then in a more modest display, the female celebrities on the red carpet on Oscar night in Hollywood are known to wear jewelry worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to enhance their designer gowns. The Owner of all the world’s gold isn’t dazzled. For Him, gold is paving material for heavenly streets, and pearls are gate-making material.
God is impressed by the extravagant beauty of virtue! When He sees a person adorned in the awesome gemstones of holiness and the precious metals of purity, He is deeply moved. When He sees those who never rebelled at their parents’ godly counsel but wear it like a crown, that sight causes Him to say, “‘Wow!” When the beauty of His character is worn like adornment by one of His human creations, that takes God’s breath away.
Principle: God sees great beauty in a person who is virtuous who has listened to and obeyed the righteous teaching of a good mom and dad. That’s actually more rare than diamonds.
This principle is applied by Peter the apostle in 1 Peter 3. In his counsel to wives on how to be truly beautiful (!), he recommends, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, 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 adorn themselves” (1 Peter 3:3-5).
This is not a license for men or women to present themselves like rag-a-muffins. It is an explanation that the world is full of people who are dressed to the nines but who, beneath the expensive clothing and jewelry, are morally extremely ugly.
Some of the folks who wore the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom were far from models of moral excellence. Similarly, some of the “stars” in the movie business who share in wealth which enables them to spend obscene amounts of money on clothing and jewelry are debauched.
Principle: Whatever moral beauty you received from righteous parents should be displayed in the public square and in the home. God will be deeply impressed by your being bedecked in virtue.
[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]