THE UGLINESS OF INDISCRETION

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.

A person is praised according to their prudence, and one with a warped mind is despised.

Prudence is a fountain of life to the prudent, but folly brings punishment to fools.

Whoever strays from the path of prudence comes to rest in the company of the dead.

Proverbs 11:22, 12:8, 16:22, 21:16

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

How would you define beauty?

Most people would do so through looking at the outside of someone or something. We do place labels on things regarding their looks, especially people.

Beautiful people seem to find their way to the spotlight, to attention, success, and esteem. They are revered and envied, viewed with a special magnetism and sometimes worshipped.

Conversely, less attractive people are looked down on and ridiculed, often passed over and rejected, pushed to life’s fringes.

Yes, we place a lot of emphasis on beauty in our society but what if this old saying is true (and I would submit that most of the time it is):

Beauty is only skin deep.

Of course, the inference here is that beauty doesn’t truly define the one who has it. In others words, a person can be gorgeous and dazzlingly stunning on the outside yet ugly and horrid within. Back in Old Testament times, Solomon used his own unique words to frame this:

Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion. Proverbs 11:22

A gold ring was one of the more precious and adored items in Solomon’s day. It represented power and worth; anyone would have loved to have it for their own and possess its value. Today when a man and woman choose to marry and spend the rest of their lives together, they most often exchange gold rings as a symbol of their unique and beautiful blessed bond.

The last place a person would put a gold ring is in a pig’s snout. For if you did in Old Testament times, you would immediately defile the precious worth and value of the item. The ring would be degraded, tainted and corrupted, dishonored and sullied.

Such is what happens within a person who is beautiful on the outside but yet refuses to use discretion in the way they live. Sin is operating below that beautiful surface, defiling and debasing the person from the inside-out. And before long, that beauty will be overcome and overwhelmed when sinfulness and impurity rises above the surface to expose who they really are.

Yes, the Bible makes it clear. Discretion is far more of a value for someone to have than beauty and we can only find that sense of discretion by allowing the Lord to make us as beautiful on the inside as we are on the outside. When we do, look at what these proverbs have to say:

A person is praised according to their prudence, and one with a warped mind is despised. Proverbs 12:8

Prudence is a fountain of life to the prudent, but folly brings punishment to fools. Proverbs 16:22

Whoever strays from the path of prudence comes to rest in the company of the dead. Proverbs 21:16

The call here is to prudence, a synonym of discretion. To show prudence means you:

1. Display the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason.

2. Show shrewdness in the management of affairs.

3. Demonstrate skill and good judgment in the use of resources.

4.  Exercise caution or circumspection as to danger or risk.

Behaving in this manner leads to a person being praised, honored for their integrity in conduct and wisdom in decision making.

Choosing to ignore prudence results in a person being despised, viewed as being warped, punished through their folly, and in the company of the dead. Indeed, we have seen many beautiful people fall from fame and even end up dead as a result of losing their grip on discretionary living.

The word of God brings us a great message today, one we should heed. There is an ugliness attached to indiscretion, one that truly does show us that beauty can be skin deep. Let us all vow to allow the Lord into our hearts and minds so that we can exercise discretion by His guidance and direction as He conforms us to His will and way, transforming us into beauty from the inside out.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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