One of life’s greatest blessings is parents who raise you in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I am incredibly grateful for a mother who is invested in my life, and wants to see me live in the perfect will of God. So many times throughout my childhood, I remember my mom telling my siblings and I some of her favorite verses—verses that had special meaning in her heart.

Whether she knew it at the time or not, these verses that were so special to her, made an impact on my life. One of these verses in particular fits well with today.

“Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.”

Proverbs 31:30

I always remember her quoting this verse to my sisters and I. She still quotes it to us to this day! It is a constant reminder to us that outward beauty is not near as important as inward beauty. You can put on all the makeup, wear all the nice clothing, and use all of the anti-aging cream you want, but ultimately, time will take its toll on us outwardly as it always does. Wrinkles will come with the joys and sorrows of life. ‘Good looks’ will fade with the years. Gray hair will come eventually. It’s just the process of life.

People will fail you, and favor found with others is a vain pursuit. It will eventually fall away and fade too. A woman who serves and fears God though, will be praised. Inward beauty doesn’t fade. It will still shine brightly long after the wrinkles and gray hairs have come, if we are serving and fearing the Lord. That is the type of woman I want to be.

Why is it that so many young woman, even in our christian circles, look to super models wearing the latest trends and popular celebrities to be role models? We are far too consumed with the temporal things of this world, when we should be looking unto the ‘aged women’ that the Bible talks about in Titus.

“The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.” ~ Titus 2:3-5

That is quite the list of admonishments for us to be there! You will notice that it is speaking to aged women, admonishing them to be these things listed, in order to teach the younger women. My question is, How can the aged women teach us if we aren’t willing to learn? If we aren’t focused on the things that hold eternal value, how will they be able to teach us?

We, as the next generation of young women, need desperately to be fixing our eyes on eternal gain instead of the pleasures that this world holds for a season. Temporal things will always fade away! They are vain and worthless. They may last for a time, but eventually they will crumble right before our very eyes. I am sure that most of us could attest to the fact that there are godly, aged women all around us that we can be looking to—Mothers, Grandmas, Aunts, women from our churches. We need to be watching them, listening to the things they are teaching us. If we are listening, we will find that they are teaching us how to be the type of woman found in Proverbs 31. They are teaching us that outward beauty is vain and favor is deceitful, but living for Christ will matter long into eternity.

Are you listening and learning from the aged women God has placed in your life? Are you seeking to be a woman who has inward beauty that will last long after the waves of time have taken their toll outwardly?

A. M. Watson

Hebrews 13:8