Holy Ornaments Of a Beautiful Woman.By-T.P. Kezia Varaprasada Reddy In this world the women wear material ornaments
(Jewellery) for their outward adornation to add to their natural beauty.
We should know that there are other ornaments called Holy Ornaments. They
are other wise called spiritual ornaments. The material ornaments are made available abundantly
every where in this world. But the spiritual ornaments are available only with
our Lord Jesus Christ. In these present days, people are longing for
material beauty. They all have different ideas about Beauty and they adorn
their material bodies with different types of ornaments. Which they
purchase from the market. The amounts spend by them on material ornaments
is much more than what they spend on their food. There is a proverb which
says “No morsel of bread to swallow, but scent is there for mustache”.
People imitate by looking at one another and adorn themselves with
material ornaments. Though, they do not have enough money to purchase
ornaments, they borrow money from others and posess the ornaments, they
like. They are under misconception that if they do not wear material
ornaments, as others do wear, they will be contemptuous in the eyes of the
world and the society will disrespect them. Here sister, I want to
emphasize the fact that people look at their outward material ornaments,
but the Lord looks at their spiritual ornaments i.e. the unfading beauty
in inner-self. Basing on the scriptures, let us see what are the spiritual
ornaments which the Lord desires to look at? 1) Ornament of Salvation : - As said in Psalm 149:4,
the ornament which the Lord has given to a believer is Salvation. It is
recorded “The Lord crowns the humble with salvation. He has delivered us
from all our sins and cleansed us in the precious blood of His dear son
Jesus Christ and has made us holy. Further He has saved us from the
eternal lake of fire with brimstone and He has crowned us with the
salvation. So, the salvation is the first ornament. Dear sister you may
possess several material ornaments, but did you ever think of possessing
yourself the ornament of salvation? If you are not possessing the salvation ornament, you will not
enter into the Kingdom of God. Your fate will be eternal damnation confess
now your sins before the Lord, then you will posses the salvation. Let us come to think of some other Holy Ornaments. 2) Ornament of Meekness or
Modesty:
- (I Timothy 2:9-15) In 9th verse, the ornament of modesty is recorded. It
is very essential for a woman to possess the ornament of meekness. Though
we do not possess any qualities of goodness still we boast ourselves and
talk about our greatness. This attitude of exaggeration telling more than
what we have should not exist in us. It should be curbed if it is there.
For example - see Genesis Ch 16:9. Hagar was a maid servant of Sarai.
Sarai gave Hagar to her husband Abram to be his wife, as she had no
children. By God’s grace Hagar become pregnant through Abram. Then Hagar
being proud of herself began to despise her mistress Sarai and so Sarai
dealt heavily with her. Then Hagar fled to wilderness and the angel of the
Lord found her by a fountain and said to her that she should return to her
mistress and to submit herself to her. This text implies that Hagar had no
quality of submission to her mistress instead she despised her. Similarly
when God showers His blessings and gives some thing to us. Which we do not
have, we should not feel proud, but rather submit ourselves to the Lord.
We should live with meekness throughout our life. This is the ornament
with which we should adorn our inner body. 3) Ornament of Sobriety : - In
I. Timothy 2:9, mention is made about the ornament of sobriety. As the body
needs health, so also the mind needs health. Sobriety means, the fact of being
sensible. It is soundness of mind in another term - Good Mind, sobriety is God
liking ornament. Abigail is a sober woman. Her sobriety is exhibited in her
presentations, she sent to David through her servants. (I. Samuel
(25:18-19)). It is said in the scriptures that Abigail made haste, took
two hundred loaves, two bottles of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five
measures of parched corn, hundred cheaters of resins and two hundred cakes
of figs. She dispatched them immediately through her servants ahead of
her. If there was any time left, she would have sent some more gifts.
Seeing these gifts David said to Abigail may you be blessed for your good
sense, sister our good sense can be seen in the offertory pouch. Is the
gift offered by us getting us blessing or poverty because we have offered
less than what we are ordained to give we must be sensible (sober) when we
offer to God. So, the sobriety is also an ornament. Abigail did not want
her husband, who is rude and evil in his doings should be killed by David.
Instead she prayed and sought the favour of David to save the life of her
husband. Thus, she has made known to us that she has sobriety i.e. good
sense. 4) Ornament of good works or good
deeds : - It is
recorded in I Timothy 2:10, that women should adorn themselves with good
works. In the Bible, we see Tabitha, which by interpretation is called
Dorcas. She is renowned for her good works and alms deeds (Acts 9:36.43).
She was sewing coats and garments for the widows. Though she died, her
good works did not die. They testified what kind of woman she was. If
Dorcas was there, there was no dearth for clothes for widows. She is such
type of woman, whose good works regenerated her form death. This news
spread all over Joppa and many people believed in the Lord. Dear sister,
if you also do such good works, they will be your ornaments. By performing
such good works, you can lead souls to the Lord. 5) Ornament of silence : I
Timothy 2:11, records about silence which is another ornament. Woman should
keep silence. Where? In the church Apostle Paul writer to Timothy as to how the
people should behave in the church. So, as recorded by Paul in the letter
addressed to Timothy, woman should be silent in the church (I Cor 14:34). She
is not permitted to speak and she is commanded to be under obedience. The Lord
does not allow the woman to have authority over man. For Adam was formed first,
then eve. And Adam was not deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and
became a sinner. The Bible says that if the woman wants to learn anything, they
can ask their husbands at home; for it is shame for women to speak in the
church. The lord also says that women should observe silence in the church. It
is good if the woman are silent even in the house. In John 12:3-8, a woman by
name Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume and poured it on
Jesus feet and wiped his feet with her hair and the house was filled with the
fragrance of the perfume. Then Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples of Jesus
objected Mary about her action, but she did not reply to him. When she kept
silence, the Lord himself spoke to him saying “Leave her alone, it was meant
that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. “ Here Jesus spoke
to Judas Iscariot on behalf of Mary. Dear sister many times, we instead of
keeping quiet, open on mouths to prove our innocence. If we open our month, the
Lord will not speak. When we close our month, then God will speak on our
behalf. In this connection, I would like to draw your attention to verse 7 of
Ch. 53 Isaiah. Where it is recorded as follows. “He was oppressed and afflicted yet he did not open
his month. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as sheep before
her sheerer is silent, so he did not open him mouth” so we should be like
Jesus and the silence is our ornament. 6. Ornament of
Faith : - In I Timothy 2:15, we read three holy ornaments viz; faith, Love
and Holiness. Faith is spiritual ornament, which should continue to exist.
throughout our life time (Not to speak of the faith one had of the time of
acquiring salvation.) In the armor of God. The faith is compared to a
shield (Eph. 6:16) One should have belief or faith that the Lord will
deliver him from all his sufferings, trials and troubles and will help him
not only today but also in all the days to come. We should have faith
every day and cultivate it not only in the past, but today in this moment
also we should not have wavering faith saying that last year, last month
and last day, the Lord helped me but I am doubtful whether he would help
me this day also. We should not have such kind of unbelief in our heart.
The prophet Samuel said (I Sam 7:12) “Hither to lath the lord helped us”. He will help in
future also. Such ornament of faith, we should have, for example in Hebrew
11:11, the Holy spirit records that Sarah, too, had faith and because of
this she was able to become a mother inspite of her old age, for she
realized that God who gave her His promise, would certainly do what He
said”. 7. Ornament of Love : - In the 15th verse of Ch.2. of I Timothy we see the Holy ornament of
Love. The woman should love every one in the Church. Similarly. She should
love all the members of the family in the house. In Titus 2:5, it is
recorded that women should love their husbands and their children. With
regard to Love towards the husbands, we shall take Michal as an example (I
Sam 18:21). Saul gave in marriage his daughter Michal to David, so that
she might be a snare to him. But soon he realized that his daughter Michal
loved David very much. Michal was the King’s daughter. She was living in
the King’s palace but David was a very poor man he had no money to pay at
least 50 silver coins as a price for the bride. Nevertheless Michel loved
David through he was not having any money with him. Dear sisters, are we
loving our husbands when they are not having any property, status,
education etc. We should question ourselves in this regard. The lord Jesus loved us, when there was no goodness or
reputation or glory in us. If a person loves a person who does not have
anything to reciprocate his love, the love of such person is true
love. David was very poor, before he became King. In Sam
25.40 - 44, we read that he was in great difficulties. He was being chased
by King Saul in the forest. His life was at stake. He sent word to
Abigail. asking her to become his wife. They approached Abigail and said,
“David has sent us to take you to become his wife; for which she bowed
down with her face to the ground and said” here is your maid servant,
ready to serve your and wash the feet of my master’s servants”. She did
not enquire the servants about her marriage with David, but rather she
told that she was ready to serve David and wash the feet of his servants.
From her statement with the servants we can guess with what measure love,
she washed the feet of David. She was willing to clean the feet of the
servants of David also but do your think that David would have given
permission to Abigail to do so? No. Though David was poor in status and
was wandering in the forest seeking protection for his life, still Abigail
loved him and married him. Scriptures say that women should love their children
also. Some women who loved their children brought them to the Lord for his
blessings. They wanted Jesus to touch their children. Similarly we should
bring our children to Jesus Christ, if we really love them. In I kings 4:23 - 27, we read of a woman whose son was
alive. She was filled with compassion for her son and did not allow the
king to cut her son into two pieces. She said, “My Lord, give her (the
other woman) the living baby don’t kill him. This woman who conceived the
living child might have wept bitterly and begged the king not to kill the
child. Her intestines might have shaken violently and she pleaded and
implored the king to spare the child and give it to the other woman.
Please see, how much affection or love this woman had for her child. We
cannot measure her love. It is immeasurable If we are loving on children really, we should pray
for them with tears in our eyes. Our intestines should shrink. When we
pray. Our lord likes such prayers. Prayer with tears God will answer
fasting prayers. So for woman Love is a valuable ornament. Because, Love
is the greatest of all. (I Cor 13:13) So, we love to render services to
our husbands to children or to any one with love. Though it is very
difficult to put it into practice, God has given it as a noble ornament
for all our lives. This ornament enhances the beauty of a woman. 8.Ornament of Holiness : - We find the ornament of Holiness in I Timothy 2:15. Holiness means
purity. In Titus 2:5 we read that woman should be pure. Whether the
husband is in the house or not, the woman should maintain purity. In Ch
7:10, 18. Proverbs, we read that a woman dressed like a prostitute and
with crafty interest is inviting a youth saying “Come, let us drink deep
of love till morning, Let us enjoy ourselves with love. My husband is not
at home, he has gone on a long journey”. This is unholy behaviour. The
text in Ch 3:1 of Peter is written by God. So that the husbands who are
disobedient to his word could come to Christ through their wives. Purity
is necessary while talking, looking, thinking, walking etc. In all things
we must be pure. As said in I Thessalonians 4:3, God wants us to be holy
and pure and to keep clear of all sexual sin. In 4:7 Paul says that God
has not called us unto uncleanness, but into holiness. So God has given us
purity as an ornament. 9.Ornament of Obedience : - This ornament is found in I Peter
3:1-6. In Ch 3:1 Peter advises wives to be submissive to their husbands. In 5th
verse, he says that the holy woman of the past who put their hope in God used
to make themselves beautiful by submitting to their husbands. So, according to
this verse, to be submissive to husband is an ornament to the wife. Some may
ask for how many times, the woman should obey her husband? For how much period
she her to obey him? Eph. 5:24 records that the wives should submit to their
husbands in every thing as the Church submits to Christ. In verse 22, Paul
advises wives to submit to their husbands as to the Lord. Frankly to speak, we
do not dare speak against God. Like wise woman
should not say any thing against their husbands and they should
necessarily obey them. Even if their husbands are not having the state of
the Lord wives should obey them. This is the Lord’s commandment to woman.
Whether you like it or not, you should obey and you should hear your
husband and follow him. Sarah is one of the women who
obeyed her husband. God has cited her as an example and has said in I Peter 3:6
that “Sarah obeyed her husband Abraham and called him master”. In present days,
women call their husbands by their names, some as Hello. The wives call their
husbands as they like. But in Sarah called her husband as ‘master,’ not only in
her call, but also in her life she obeyed her husband. We see in Genesis Ch.
18:6, where “Abraham hurried in to the tent to Sarah, “Quick” he said. Get
three measures of fine flour and kneed it and bake some bread”. Sarah, without
murmuring, prepared every thing ready, her age then was 89 years. In those days
her strength had gone, yet her husband commanded her to kneed 3 measures of
fine flour, why? there were only 3 angels. How much quantity of flour is needed
to bake bread for them? What kind of flour is required for preparation of bread
in what manner the bread has to be prepared? Does not Sarah know all these
things? Abraham has asked his wife Sarah to kneed 3 measures of fine flour and
prepare bread. It is a very difficult task for Sarah. Even then she called her
husband “Master’ and obeyed him. She did not even question him as why 3
measures of fine flour was required as the guests were only 3 in number she
could have said (1)”Do you think that I do not know that I should take
fine flour to kneed and bake bread She did not say all these things she did not revolt
against her husband. She did not reply to him violently. She simply nodded
her head and prepared bread for the guests. A woman aged 89 years, kneaded
3 measures of flour. Imagine how much pain she might have had, while
kneading the flour and how much time it took for her to burn the fire and
bake bread. When angels visited Abraham’s house, it is not known whether
Sarah invited her servants also to share the lunch along with them
(angles) as the quantity of bread (No. of loves) was more than sufficient
for the guests. She could have said to her husband that 9 loaves of bread
would suffice at the rate of 3 loaves to each angel, but she did not say
like that. As a young woman does, she attended to baking, cooking etc.
This is a good example for women. Did we ever think that obedience is an
ornament which adorns us ? Those who obey their husbands will always
appear as adorned ornament and they will also look like even green bride.
Dear sister, of your want to appear as an ornament. You should submit to
your husband. 10.Ornament of meek and quiet
spirit (I Peter 3:4): - Here we see the
ornament of meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God a great
price. In animals we see some meek animals. They don’t do any harm. Hence
we keep them his our homes and nourish them. We don’t approach the wild
animals. If we lead a meek life all will come to us and they will like to
be friendly with us. We must be polite and sincere when we deal with
others. We should not wound their feelings with on talking or with our
behaviour. We need a character of meekness. When we consider of quiet
spirit, the soft butter which we use in our food items comes to our mind.
We don’t find any solid substance if we press it hard. The Butter is
entirely soft similarly when people search our lives, they should find
only softness in us, but not hardness. The soldiers beat Jesus and crucified him on the
cross. They tortured, oppressed and afflicted him and called him
“Malefactor yet Jesus, did not open his month. He was dumb like a lamb
being led to the slaughter and as a sheep is silent before her shearers.
When he opened his month he prayed to God for those who oppressed him as
“Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing” this
character of meekness and quiet spirit, which our lord is having, is an
ornament, which we all should wear. When we wear all the above ornaments, then our Lord
will call us as in Song of Solomon Ch 6:4 you will be called ‘Beautiful’
because he is greatly desiring your beauty (Psalm 45:11). We should adorn
ourselves with the above ornaments as stated in I Peter.Ch 3:5. others
will not adorn us with these ornaments to you. In this world, during
marriages, several women come and adorn the bride. But, we being the bride
to Lord, should ourselves adorn with the holy ornaments. Seeing the beauty
of the bride who adorned herself with these ornaments, the bridegroom, the
Lord will feel happy. By T.P. Kezia Varaprasada Reddy Anantapur. |