Learning that God is the creator in the person of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:9, Colossians 1:16) should serve as one of the earliest of life’s lessons. Some people have used this truth of God as creator to suggest that He is accountable for their lustful desires, yet nothing could be further from the truth. Believers should continue to believe and proclaim that God created each person on purpose and for a purpose. Unfortunately, many people try to point to God as a prime excuse for the sin within their own hearts and lives. They point to some failure, sin, or lifestyle and say, “God made me this way.” God does make some people short and others tall. He makes some with blue eyes and some with green. He makes some male and some female. God made each individual with certain traits, yet the truth of who and what we are flows from the choices we have made, good and bad. One commonality amongst all of God’s creation concerns the need for the soul’s salvation. Instead of trying so hard to question God’s wisdom, believers should rather choose to serve Him to the best of their God-given abilities.
Increasingly, the world is driven by the desire for more perceived outward beauty. Some people have gone so far as to change everything concerning their appearance in hopes of turning out more beautiful than previously perceived. Beauty, however, is an area where God and man think quite differently. God sees beauty as a matter of the heart, while man thinks beauty involves the putting on of more makeup (2 Kings 9:30), or changing hair color or hair style, or having some cosmetic alteration done to the teeth or body. In the end, the Lord says that man’s idea of beauty is actually quite vain. While men praise outward beauty, the Lord says that “a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.”
The Bible links together wisdom, knowledge, and discretion to help the Bible student comprehend God’s truths. Today’s passage provides insight into the composition of this connection. When wisdom enters the heart and knowledge is pleasant to the soul, then discretion preserves the believer. Preserve can mean to protect from harm as the context of this passage shows. Those who use discretion are protected from being ensnared by those who have little regard for God or the things of God. Verse 12 indicates that discretion protects the individual from the way of evil men. Verse 16 further reveals how discretion delivers from the strange woman. Discretion implements wisdom and knowledge to keep the believer from unnecessary difficulties that trouble those who fail to abide by biblical principles.
Most women who receive gold and jewelry consider them treasured gifts. In fact, gold and some jewels increase in value with some being of inestimable value. These treasures have many uses whereby their owners can benefit. Yet, imagine the reaction when a jewel of gold is mounted in a swine’s snout rather than in an appropriate decorative setting. No matter the perceived value of the item, its appeal significantly decreases. The Bible likens this scenario to a fair (beautiful) woman who is void of discretion. The world values outward beauty more than inward beauty though the Bible cautions against this. Today’s passage equates a beautiful woman without discretion to a jewel of gold in a pig’s snout. Discretion is of such importance that God instructed the aged women to teach the younger women to be discreet in Titus 2:5. The problem began where the Bible began – with a story about a woman in the garden in Eden who partook of the fruit based on what she saw and felt. All of God’s people, including ladies, should make their decisions with discretion.
