Several weeks ago I taught this lesson to our homeschool co-op and I thought that while I am down from surgery I would take the opportunity to share it here on my blog.

This is one of my favorite proverbs…

As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout
So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

Proverbs 11:22

Well ain’t that a pretty picture?

For us to understand the depth of this proverb we have to understand the value of this nose ring. In the days of this proverb a nose ring was a big deal in this region. As a matter of fact when Abraham sent out his servant to find a bride for his son Isaac it was a nose ring that was given to Rebekah to denote her as “the one”.

When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels in gold,…

Then I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him’; and I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her wrists.

Genesis 24:22, 47

This gold nose ring was meant to outwardly adorn the inward beauty of a woman… it was the inward beauty that Abraham’s servant was looking for…

So I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go successful; behold, I am standing by the spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar”; and she will say to me, “You drink, and I will draw for your camels also”; let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’

Genesis 24:42-44

Abraham’s servant wasn’t out looking for the most beautiful woman, but a woman with a kind and gracious heart. Just like a gold ring in a pig’s snout doesn’t make a pig not be a pig, neither does the outward beauty of a person cover an ugly heart… all it takes is a little time watching and listening to see that truth.

The word for discretion in Proverbs 11:22 is taam and it means taste, judgment, reason, understanding, advice

As I do with my co-op family let’s take a walk through the movies to see that this truth in action…

 

Did you catch the words of the mirror?

Not even the rags could cover the beauty of Snow White because of her gentle grace… and no amount of outward beauty could cover the ugly heart of the queen.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7

I know this Proverb seems to speak to women alone, but as with most all Scripture, it applies to us all with no regard to any of our external qualities… the Scriptures are meant to measure the heart, therefore I believe Proverbs 11:22 is true for men as well…

What this outwardly handsome prince lacked was exposed by the enchantress. He had no love in his heart. His outward appearance might have been appealing, but he too was a nose ring in a pig’s snout. He lacked discretion. So the enchantress made his outside to match the beast that was his inward character.

Have you ever wondered what would we would look like if God turned us inside out?

 You are near to their lips but far from their mind. But You know me, O Lord; You see me; and You examine my heart’s attitude toward You…

Jeremiah 12:2-3

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It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.

Daniel 2:22

We can pretend all we want before others… but God knows the truth.

Let’s look at one more…

Oh she looked beautiful on the outside… but the mirror revealed the truth. I actually love that in each of these clips the mirror is a common factor. As I watched each of these clips and studied on this proverb the Holy Spirit reminded of this verse in the book of James…

Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:21-25

The only way we can truly ascertain our beauty or the beauty of others is by looking at ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word. There is so much to be said about the value of kindness… when you look at all these examples, the Evil Queen, the Beast, Ursala… they all lacked kindness.

When we look at Jesus… He never lacked kindness. When we look at our God He never lacks kindness… He is the One with everlasting lovingkindness.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Psalm 118:1

Kindness never gets ugly… just think about it… how many of us have great grandparents or grandparents who are on up there in age and they are head over heels in love with the LORD and with you?

When you see them do you say, Ugh! Gross, you are so old and ugly! Do you cringe from their touch and hide and dread spending time with them?

Or do you run to them and look into their eyes and give them big hugs and kisses. Do you see the absolute beauty of the kindness of their heart?

The simple fact is that true beauty just gets more and more beautiful…

When I go back and think about that Prince and that enchantress who showed up at his door… I realize what a gift it was that she gave him. A gift for him to see, really see, who he was… so that he could become better. Had she never showed him his true self he would have lived on in the deceit of his own mind. He would have died an old bitter unloved man…

My family and I watched the movie, Saving Mr Banks, and due to curiosity from the story of the movie I dug into PL Travers life a little bit looking more info on her. I had hope that I would see a turn around of sorts in her life, but instead what I learned was that after her death her grandchildren were quoted as saying, “she died loving no one and with no one loving her“. This, beloved, is the saddest thing that I have ever heard… can you imagine this coming from the mouths of your grandchildren?

We may not have an enchantress that shows up at our door, or a talking mirror on the wall, but God gives us plenty of opportunities to see who we really are on the inside.

He gives us circumstances.

He gives us interruptions.

He gives us distractions.

He gives us family.

He gives us a work place.

He gives us challenges.

He gives us people.

He gives us traffic.

He gives us Wal-Mart.

He gives us telemarketers.

He gives us waiting rooms.

He gives us His Word.

He gives us His Son.

He gives us His Spirit.

When we refuse to acknowledge who we really are… when we refuse to agree with God about the condition of our heart… that’s when we stay ugly and just keep getting uglier.

You shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God or accept correction; truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.

Jeremiah 7:28

As I was talking to my niece this morning after we watched an episode of Law and Order she asked me isn’t there a different law for a crime of passion? So I answered her with Scripture and how God had set up the cities of refuge and how yes, there was mercy was crimes of passion, but there was none for someone who “waited in the bush” someone who planned it out. I went on to share how the reason our country has worked for so long is because our government was founded on Biblical truth… and today even the church has decided that the Old Testament is irrelevant… thus we are where we are and are headed where we are headed. All we have to do is read through Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel to see that it happened in Israel when they decided the Law of God was not relevant to them anymore.

Where God is not… kindness is not.

Love is patient, love is kind…

1 Corinthians 13:4

Where God is not… truth is not.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me

John 14:6

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But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth

John 16:13

Where God is not… love is not.

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

1 John 4:8

Look into the mirror of the Word of God and when you walk away don’t forget what it showed you… and if what it revealed showed you that you needed some changes… there is only one who can change you… and that is God.

He wants to make you beautiful.

He wants transform you from the inside out.

When we meet God at the mirror of His Word we will either break it or embrace it… love it or hate it… fight it or kiss it.

Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Psalm 85:10

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