Christian Courtship And Dating Àpẹrẹ

Physical Appearance Matters

There are some practical matters to consider when it comes to meeting the person the Lord wants you to marry. There are practical things to keep in mind. I know we can place too much emphasis on appearance. In our culture, if we’ve been out of balance, it’s certainly been on the side of putting too much stress and importance on how we look. On the other hand, sometimes within the church we get the impression that it doesn’t matter how you present yourself or it doesn’t matter about your appearance. I believe we need to teach that appearance does have some importance. 

Your appearance can certainly say that you’re vain, but it can also say that you’re lazy. What we want our appearance to say is that we are neat, orderly, and godly. Whether male or female, we need to be encouraged to present a good testimony in the way we take care of ourselves. The Bible does not neglect the matter of appearance. The Bible does put more stress on how we look on the inside, than how we look on the outside, which should be our emphasis as well, but it doesn’t teach us to neglect our appearance. 

Paul says in the book of 1 Timothy, “Women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety.” We need that message in our churches; modestly and discreetly. Proverbs 31 describes the virtuous woman as dressed in fine purple linens. She didn’t go out wearing a burlap sack. These are practical things to consider. You can be naïve if you want to and say that appearance makes no difference, but even in the Bible, godly virtuous Ruth took her mother-in-law’s advice and paid attention to the way she appeared when she presented herself to Boaz. There’s nothing wrong with that. If you’re a young woman who doesn’t take care of her appearance, and every time a young man sees you, your hair is all messed up, and you look like you’re ready to wrestle him; it’s no wonder he doesn’t take any notice of you. You may think, “Well, what’s wrong? I love the Lord.”  You look like you love wrestling. That’s what’s wrong. There’s something to be said for taking care of yourself. These are practical matters to consider when dating and during courtship.