Adorned By God

Adorned by God This past weekend, I enjoyed a tea party with my daughters and granddaughters. It was a beautiful day and the tea house was not far from my daughter’s home in Chesapeake, VA. The best part of all was getting the granddaughters ready. They had beautiful dresses, adorable hats, jewelry, gloves and feather fans.

Oh my, they were so cute in all their lovely attire. Let me backtrack for a moment. A few weeks ago I had Facetime the granddaughters to discuss how we would like to celebrate the birthdays of Alyvia (who was turning 8) and Lena (who was turning 6). Both of them wanted to have afternoon tea. The first thing out of Alyvia’s mouth was, “Could we dress up?” “But of course,” was my response. As we talked further, the ensemble of what to wear and how to accessorize for the party began to evolve from dresses, to jewelry, hats, well you get the picture. Back to the tea party on Saturday; all six of us, [ladies only, “GG” – me, my daughter Christal, mother of Alyvia, and Jessica, mother of Lena and Vera, age 3] sat around a table and enjoyed the adorable children’s room beautifully decorated to create an atmosphere of elegance. The china was delicate, the table setting fancy and the food displayed on elaborate tiered serving dishes. My heart was full and I am sure to enjoy looking at the photos for months to come (thanks to my daughter who happens to be a photographer).

All this reminded me of 1 Peter 3:3-4 (TPT): Let your true beauty come from your inner personality, not a focus on the external. For lasting beauty comes from a gentle and peaceful spirit, which is precious in God’s sight and is much more important than the outward adornment of elaborate hair, jewelry, and fine clothes.

How often we put so much focus on our outward appearance that depends on jewelry or beautiful clothes, that we overlook the importance to being adorned by God and allowing His Holy Spirit to awaken the lasting beauty of the heart. Intentionally making time to be in God’s presence through prayer and study of the Word helps to remind us we are adorned in His love. It ignites a desire in us to allow His love to awaken a passion to do something beautiful for God and becoming beautiful doing it. Being in His presence stirs an awareness of how special we are and deeply adorned.

You see, God has placed us here on earth as ambassadors (See 2 Corinthians 5:11) to allow our love and good deeds to shine out for all to see (See Matthew 5:16). Let’s be sure to allow God’s lasting beauty take priority in your life, because even if those around us do not obey the Word of God, your kind conduct may win them over without you saying a thing. (See 1 Peter 3:1) God is love and when we make time to be in His presence, we allow the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you to release His divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. (See Galatians 2:22-23 TPT) And, through us, allowing His love to be displayed to others. (See 1 John 4:21 MSG)

Blessings Cindy