A father shared with his young daughters: “Don’t ever be more beautiful on the outside than you are on the inside.” Our culture hammers females with the opposite message, carrying the false promise that makeup, tanning, a new hairstyle, designer clothing, jewelry, piercing, tattoos, Botox, or an augmentation will heal the ache inside your soul. Regardless of your external attractiveness, God designed true, lasting beauty to flow from the inside. This is how you were MADE.

Wise King Solomon observed: “Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion” (Proverbs 11:22). Discretion means “to separate.” A woman is called to discern wisdom from foolishness, separating walk from talk, right from wrong, and long-term benefits from short-term pleasure. God gave a female keen insight to see beyond spoken words, recognizing nonverbal cues, such as body posture, facial expressions, eye contact, hand gestures, and tone of voice. This window into another’s soul reveals motives, thoughts, and emotions underneath that person’s vocabulary, uncovering the true meaning behind their words. A wife’s discretion is a valuable resource to her husband (see Proverbs 18:22) who tends to focus on the surface of communication, often not taking time to peer beyond the language used. A man hears the lyrics of a song, but a woman also listens to the music.

How does your life demonstrate your ability to separate wisdom from foolishness? In your next encounter, focus on discretion. Discover what a wise choice would be amidst any conflict by taking five seconds to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Separate walk from talk. Are the actions of your counterpart so loud that you can’t hear their words? Allow that person’s behavior to show you their true intent. Seek what is right, even among a plethora of wrong options. All the while, resist the temptation to take a quick fix over the long-term value of a discerning heart.

Episode 251: Cute Girls Made with Kelsey Kruse (Part 2) from mitchkrusetv on Vimeo.