Vanity Oh Vanity

1 Peter 3

By Luke Sanders

I went to college at California Baptist University which is a private Christian school. I was involved with the men’s choir there, during the three years that I was involved with the music program I learned some very interesting things about how we value a person. We all know that in the secular world individuals are judged based on their outer appearance, however did you ever think that Christians did the very same thing??? As bad as this may sound, this is one of the things I learned in college, a person’s value is based on how acceptable they are according to society’s perspective of cool. Society tells us what to listen to, what to watch and what to wear, while attending a Christian University I truly discovered how important the outer appearance is and I found myself judging people in the same way. Peter addresses this subject in today’s portion of scripture, 1 Peter 3:3-4 “Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.” Peter was speaking to the women of the church, instructing them how to be righteous women of God and God fearing wives. However I believe that now more then ever these verses apply to all of us. Peter here is telling us not to be concerned with the trivial things that encourage us in our vanity, not to say that wanting to look good is a bad thing. Personal hygiene is very important, and we should take care of the bodies that God has given us, however what Peter is talking about is vanity. When we focus more on our outer appearance then we focus on our spiritual well being. Beauty is fleeting, when we are always seeking to look good on the outside it is helpful to remember that one day our beauty will die and what will be left is a prune of a person with no spiritual worth.

The last thing that I want you guys to consider is other people’s outer appearance. How often do we base our friendships on how good looking a person is, or how hip their style is? We as Christians are called to be like Christ, and Christ is God. Now the question is how does God look at people, well God Himself told His servant Samuel how He looks at a person, 1 Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at a person’s thoughts and intentions.” Samuel did not think that David was fitting to be a King because he was not as big or good looking as his older brothers, however God saw David’s heart, and saw that he truly had the heart of Israel’s greatest king. This is how we are called to look at a person, since we cannot see their heart we are told to judge by the fruit in their lives. How the Lord works in a person is how we should see a person, not by their hairstyle or the brand of clothes they are wearing. Some of my best friends over the years have been the guys that could not afford the hip styles but wore Star Wars shirts that were hand-me-downs from 1975, the friends that were never their for me were generally the ones that matched what society called cool. Try to view people through God’s eyes.

Maranatha!!!