A godly woman’s true adornment can’t be bought at a department store or acquired in the beauty shop. The problem today is that so much of the beauty we see is store-bought. It requires regular trips to the department store, the hairstylist, and the nail salon to maintain. Some women who talk about going to “put on my face” are speaking the truth, because the one they have is not the real person.

Now I don’t mean this as criticism, because there is nothing wrong with being attractive. But when a woman can’t distinguish between her real self and her outer adornment, or when she comes to rely on that adornment for her worth and identity, she has gone beyond the biblical standard.

Peter urged women of God not to define themselves by the jewelry or the clothes they wear. The sum total of who you are is much more than that.

There’s more to your story.

What is the content of a godly woman’s adornment? We read: “The imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:4). God’s question to women who believe is, “Are you trying as hard to be attractive on the inside as you are on the outside?” He wants to make sure that your internal beauty is taking precedence over your external beauty. He wants to make sure that He can compliment how you look on the inside.

Peter was speaking in particular about the way a woman appears to her husband, but the principle applies to all women. He said that a woman’s inner beauty shines through in the way she conducts herself and responds to others.

Your external person, the part that others can see, must be supported by your internal character. That’s why Peter called this quality “the hidden person,” your spirit at the core of your being, the part of you no one sees.

How does a woman become beautiful on the inside? By allowing herself to be transformed by God’s glory. In other words, a woman who wants to please God and become truly alluring to her husband, if she is married, must be a woman who is in passionate pursuit of God, seeking to be in His presence so she can be transformed into the image of His glory.

The Urban Alternative