By Miss Danielle S. - 2009 Essay Contest Runner Up
“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain.” (Proverbs 31:30, ESV)
What is
charm?
“Charm
is the power of pleasing and attracting, as through personality or beauty.”
(Webster’s American Family Dictionary)
Charm is
not necessarily a natural thing; it can be created on purpose.
Some people often put on a front of charm around particular people
who they want to please and attract. They do this because they realize the
person will not be pleased by their true character. If a girl has not taken the
time to develop an upright and beautiful character and if she wants to be liked
and admired, she must deceive.
Charm
often deceives those who are attracted by it, as the charmer intends.
Sometimes this happens because the girl isn’t around them often,
and they do not have the opportunity to watch her carefully. Someone might also be deceived because
they are also shallow and foolish, looking only at the outward manners and not
the inward character.
Unfortunately, charm will sometimes also deceive the charmer into
forgetting the ugly character that lies behind the front. She might become so
influenced by the complements and remarks of those who see her false charm and
believe that is what she is really like on the inside.
What is
beauty?
“Beauty
is the quality present in a person that gives intense aesthetic pleasure or
deep satisfaction to mind or senses.” (Webster’s American Family Dictionary)
But
beauty which is merely on the surface is vain—it is futile, it doesn’t give
deep satisfaction to the mind or senses, it has no real value, and it is
unsuccessful in its goal of giving intense pleasure, for two reasons.
1)
Outward beauty fades. No one has found the fountain of youth, and it isn’t
likely that anyone will. False beauty can deceive—but not forever.
“For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass;
its flower falls, and its beauty perishes.” (James 1:11, ESV)
2)
Outward beauty is usually not proportionate or seemly. True beauty is apt, it
fits the person and the occasion and creates a beauty out of that seemliness.
False beauty tends to be immoderate and overdone.
An
example of this can be seen in Shakespeare’s play, King Lear. This king had
three daughters, and he asked them how much they loved him. King Lear’s two
oldest daughters were prideful and had no true beauty. They answered in
exaggerated words, saying all their happiness depended on him, nothing gave
them more joy than being with him…but his third daughter said she loved him
according to her duty—no more, no less. This reply outraged him, but the king
eventually discovered her sincere love for him after the other two daughters
deserted him.
On the
other hand, true beauty does not need to be exaggerated to be appreciated. A
person with true beauty has no need to put up a false front, their character
shines forth for all to see and admire.
The
woman of Proverbs 31 simply did her work, she did it with all her heart and
that was enough.
She wasn’t too concerned with the latest hairstyles to plant a vineyard
for her family, “…with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard,” (vs.
16b).
She did not mind that she might have dark circles under her eyes after
being awake during the night, “Her lamp does not go out at night,” (vs.18b).
While
many women get manicures and nail polish, this woman didn’t hesitate to use her
hands for rough work, “She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands,”
(vs. 13).
Instead
of going on diets and exercising so she would look good at the beach, this
woman “dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong,” (vs. 17) so
she can work hard and not become tired.
She is
concerned about all those around her, and is not self-centered.
Proverbs doesn’t say she made sure to have “me-time” every week,
or every day. She does her husband good, all the days of her life, and wants to
make sure his character is respected in the town. She provides food for her own household, including her
servants. She is worried about the poor in her town, and shares some of her
hard-earned fruits with the needy.
This is
true beauty because it is the beauty which God intended. The world and Satan
have created a “pseudo-beauty” that they want everyone to have. Their beauty is
self-centered, and unseemly.
True
beauty is beautiful because it is God’s way, and for us to accept the world’s
standard of beauty would be to reject God’s plan for human beings.
“A woman
who fears the Lord is to be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30)
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