Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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My wife isn't really very big on jewelry, but she takes special joy in pieces that are family heirlooms, like an engagement ring that originally belonged to my grandmother. Over the years, the three small diamonds that had been in that ring had been removed. So, all that was left was a gold band with three empty settings. Well, my wife managed to get a great deal on some stones that she could have set in that ring. It wasn't particularly beautiful before. It's really beautiful now.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Setting Without the Stones."
The setting by itself wasn't really very attractive. But it was those gems that made all the difference. In today's world where a woman's desire to be "beautiful" drives so much of the marketing that is directed to women, it's easy for a woman to believe some very big lies about herself. The models in the magazines and the stars on the screen are supposed to define beauty. Well, they don't, at least not according to the Creator. And He should know. Much of what we think is beauty is really a setting without the stones.
God's idea of beautiful, therefore the final word on the subject, is part of our word for today from the Word of God. In 1 Peter 3, beginning in verse 2, God calls women to be known and noticed for "the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 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."
What God says is worth little is worth little. What God says is worth a lot is worth a lot. And He's saying that the outward stuff - your face, your figure, your clothes, your makeup, your hair - those are not what beauty is all about, no matter how many times our culture bombards you with the message that it is. Your outward appearance is at best the setting, but it's not the gems that make the setting come to life. Those are on the inside.
God says the real jewels are things like being a woman who's pure, who's gentle, making people feel special and safe, who conveys a calm spirit, who's poised and peaceful under pressure. Those things just never wrinkle or they never fade. Many a woman who spends hours on how she looks is missing this inner glow that makes a woman radiant. Just think about the women who have made a difference in your own life, who have been beautiful for you. It probably had everything to do with what they were, and almost nothing to do with how they looked.
Do you know where a woman finds her true worth? She finds it when she meets Jesus Christ. When all but one of Jesus' disciples had abandoned Him, do you know who was still at His cross? The women; women whose lives had been changed by Him. If you've never been to that cross where Jesus died for every wrong thing you've ever done, I want to invite you to join the millions of women over the centuries who have found in Jesus Christ the love they have looked for their whole life. He is the one person with whom you are totally safe, whom you can totally trust, who knows all about you and takes you just as you are and loves you just as you are but doesn't leave you there. It makes you into a women you'd otherwise never could have been except for His beauty inside you.
If you've never opened your heart to this One who loves you the most, would you do that today just by saying, "Jesus, beginning this day I am yours."
Our website, YoursForLife.net, is actually set up to help you know how to begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It's all about life's most important relationship. Let me encourage you at your first convenience today to go there - YoursForLife.net. I think you'll be encouraged. Or I'd be glad to send you my little booklet Yours for Life is you'll just call the toll free number and let me know you want it. The number is 877-741-1200.
Every woman who has ever come to Jesus has found in him that love that no one else has ever been able to give them.