3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 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. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

1 Peter 3:3-6

Peter’s encouragement and admonition to women is for them to pay much more attention to their inward being rather than outward appearances. It’s Peter’s summation of Proverbs 31.

Women would do well to heed Peter’s counsel on the matter, mainly because it goes against the grain of today’s culture. Women win hearts because of their gentle spirit. Even in Western Christian culture (social media), it’s quite common to be loud and proud of their faith and beauty. They certainly get the most attention, but does it win people to Christ? Only they can say, but I doubt it is true.

Perhaps we can even ask a broader question, why do we always lean towards what is counter to Scripture? Why do we feel the need to prove ourselves by going against what God has determined is the best course. This, of course, applies to the topic at hand but it can certainly be applied to any doctrine we cite.

Maybe we find affinity with the Hymn writer yet again:

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.
Prone to leave the God I love.

We think we know better. We may not say it, but our actions certainly reveal our thoughts.