Charm is deceptive and beauty is vapor that vanishes, but a woman who fears the Lord should be praised.
Proverbs 31: 30 English Heritage Version
“We hide our faults until after the wedding!” I remember that the Cinderella musical with Brandy made a huge point of how Brandy’s step family living by that motto. The movie was pointing out how “charming” the evil step family was to try and trick a man into marrying them instead of waiting for love to get married. It’s one of hundreds of examples in movies, tv, and books of someone using charm to cover their faults.
Proverbs 31 starts out with a mother telling her son to stay away from alcoholism and destructive women. As she ends her advice on what her son should look for in a wife, she again reminds him to focus on a woman’s faith and actions, not her looks and acting ability. A Proverbs 31 woman might be gorgeous and charming. She might get along with everyone, helping everyone feel happier, but her true value is in her heart, shown through her actions. No one can be “charming” forever. Eventually they’ll get angry or tired and their true emotions will show. A beautiful lady will get older and need to spend a lot of energy or money to maintain her beauty. A Christian woman who strives to serve God by maintaining her family, helping her community, and helping her husband will always be loved and praised, even as her youth fades and age shows though her youthful beauty.
A Proverbs 31 woman doesn’t waste her hours trying to look perfect. She wants to be admired for her actions, which are a fruit of her faith, not for the beauty she was blessed with or found through makeup. If our worth is based on something as short lived as beauty, we will always be chasing fads and not happy. If we base our worth on how God sees us and strive to honor him with our actions, we will feel God’s love and happiness, no matter what people say about us on Earth.
