The
Well Dressed Woman
By
David Minor, Sr.
(Excerpted)
"Wives, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some [of your husbands] do not obey the Word, they,
with out a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. Do not
let your beauty be that outward adorning of arranging the hair, of wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel: but let it be
the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the
sight of God." (1 Peter 3:1-4)
What
the Apostle Peter was saying was this: What makes a woman beautiful is... that which is within. Now, ladies... remember that
in the sight of God, the ornament of a meek, or gentle and quiet spirit, is what He beholds as beautiful... If you want Him
to notice you, then put on the ornament of a beautiful, gentle, and quiet spirit, which is in
His sight, great price.
"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can
carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content." (1 Timothy 6:6-8)
Godliness
with contentment is great riches. Riches is a state of mind. A person that is content is rich. The person that thinks he is
poor is poor. You that think happiness is related to your surroundings or your possessions are wrong. Your discontentment
is because of what is within you. Discontentment is a state of our heart or the state of our mind. So many of the discontented
say, “I want to change my location. If only I were in other circumstances.” But you will find when you get there
that your trouble came with you. Discontentment doesn't work from outside in; it works from inside out.
Every
now and then the queen in her palace has a pout and a temper tantrum, and gets discontented. Multi-millionairs and billionaires
get discontented. Discontentment is not because of our possessions, it is our state of mind. We didn't bring anything into
this world, nor can we take anything out. If you have food and raiment, be content. Dig a hole and bury that greed somewhere,
and be thankful for what God gave you. Quit complaining about the chair. Thank God you have a chair on which to sit. Quit
complaining about your house. Thank God there is something between you and the elements. Thanking and praising God for what
you do have – that is contentment. When you are content with what God has given you, you are rich. It doesn't make any
difference how much you have; it is a state of your heart.
Single
people get discontented because they are not married, but half of the marriages in the United States end in divorce within
three years. Contentment is not found in marriage. Walking with Jesus Christ brings contentment. Being delivered from a complaining
spirit brings contentment. Being thankful for what God has given you makes you rich.
Proverbs
31:10-11 says, “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.” This
is saying that she is contented in the provisions that her husband is able to provide. She doesn't have to have a multiplicity
of things to make her happy. Solomon the wise man said, “A woman that nags is like a drip, drip, drip on a rainy day;
it is better to live up on top of the roof in a little corner by yourself with a little morsel of bread, than live in a palace
with a contentious and nagging woman.”
He
knew what he was talking about. God, raise up some old-fashioned Holy Ghost filled women that love the Word of God, and love
their husbands. These women won't put a load on their husbands backs of constantly wanting him to be in debt so they can have
finer and finer and nicer and nicer things. I believe the devil inspires some women to nag their husbands and that is why
a lot of husbands stop at the bars at night. They just won't go home. She was nagging in the morning when he left, and she
is just geared up when he gets home to complain and to make life generally miserable for her husband.
Ladies,
you can be happy wherever you are. You don't have to have fifteen different changes of clothes; you don't have to have everything
new. The woman who pleases God doesn't have to constantly be buying things to keep her happy. Live within your means. Don't
put more burdens on your husband. There is nothing harder to carry through life than debts, debts, debts. Women who want their
husbands to work overtime just so they can have every whim and every desire, and the best of everything, will find no peace
in their home. That woman needs a meeting with God to get that discontentment out of her heart, so the husband can come home
after eight hours and sit down, and enjoy what God has given him.
When
God created woman, He said to the man, “This is going to be your helper.” A woman is called to stand with a man
and to create a happy home, and a pleasant atmosphere, and to raise his children. When a man is tired and weary, he is entitled
to come home to a clean house and cooked meals, and not have to listen to a list of complaints. The woman that pleases God
will do her husband good all the days of her life.
There
are some women that think once or twice a week they have to get away from it all. Get away from what? Two children, an electric
coffee pot, an electric vacuum, an electric dish washer? She drives her husband crazy if she can't get away. That idea is
not based on Biblical principles; it is not the mark of a godly woman. [It costs her a significant amount of money each week
at the Beauty-Shop.] God gave her eyebrows and she pulls them all off and pencils some in. She has her eyes blacked out looking
like Dracula. A man ought to have something more when he gets married than a pretty little face. Inside of that face, there
ought to be brains and some abilities, and a heart that has contacted God.
A
woman that has the fear of God wants to come to marriage and give a man everything that she can of her loyalty and her strength.
She should have such a sweet Christ-like nature about her that she knows that he will never be looking in other directions.
There is nothing to look for, because everything he wants is in that home. She doesn't nag, she doesn't complain, she doesn't
torture him, and she doesn't punish him. She stands beside him in whatever God has called him to do. That is the kind of wife
that a woman ought to be. When God gives her a husband, she should stay home and create a home for him. When the children
come along, she ought to stay home and raise them. The Bible says that women are to be chaste and keepers in the home. You
can search the Bible from cover to cover, and the place for the wife to be is in her home raising her children. God gave the
children to her to raise. He didn't give them to baby sitters; that's the mother's job. If a man would rather have his wife
out someplace on a job, then he needs to get some Holy Ghost wisdom. We need to live by the Word of the Lord.
Women,
put on that ornament. Be beautiful. Your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost. Be radiant when your husband comes home. Be just
as radiant as you were on your first date. You ought to keep yourself that way. Look as nice as you can on the outside, but
wear a gentle and quiet spirit on the inside. Truly you will be one of God's best dressed women!
