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Striving towards inner beauty as an antidote to divorce

 

There is a saying: “Do not judge the book by its cover”. This saying captures what Christ told the Pharisees: “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment” (Matthew 7:24). This contradicts the spirit of the day - in contemporary culture, people are judged by their looks.

I remember when Venda was burning because of witch hunts, one only had to have certain features to be branded a witch:  “dark black”, “red eyes” and “ugly” by human standards. The Pharisees had the same attitude of judging people because of what they saw.

Jesus taught them the importance of inner beauty. A person’s value and worth should emanate from the inner self. Jesus repeated the same teaching about inner beauty in Luke 11:37-41. In this case he focused on two issues, namely (1) cleaning the inside of the cup and (2) cleaning the outside of the cup. Striving towards inner beauty is a spiritual exercise. It is contrasted with the spirit to clean the outside of the cup.

Real meaning of inner beauty in this context is:
We are talking about purity of the heart: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). In this instance we are talking assurance of your salvation;
We are talking about a Christ-like life: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).

We are talking life of being driven by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the first deposit that guarantees you your faith (Ephesians 1:14). We are instructed to lead a life that responds to the lead and guidance of the Holy Spirit at all times. “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). 1 Thessalonians 5:20-28 continues to define how best we can achieve this.

When a woman is adorned with this beauty, she is able to live and behave in such a way that she becomes a noble wife whose heart is in saving her marriage.

 There are women who will leave their husbands for other men because their husbands can’t afford to pay for their expensive lifestyles. Inner beauty, however, is an antidote to divorce. 

One adorned with inner beauty will always be a loving person, respectful and willing to do everything in her power to ensure that her marriage will never come to an end. This woman strives to listen to the voice of God in the Scriptures and do God’s will with regard to her marriage. 
 

Columns - Date: 18 September 2014

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Prof Derrick Mashau

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