Beauty Is Not Enough

Ruth 2:4-12
Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!”
“The Lord bless you!” they called back.
Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, “Whose young woman is that?”
The foreman replied, “She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She went into the field and worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”
So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don't go and glean in another field and don't go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”
At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, “Why have I found favour in your eyes that you notice me  - a foreigner?”
Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of her husband - how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

Again I thank God for the grace to glean from His words and be richly blessed by the abundance of wisdom found in the truth of the word of God. By the grace of God this post will be a continuation of lessons from the book of Ruth and will benefit especially intending couple and those trusting God for the gift of a spouse. I am trusting God that those who carry out marriage counseling in organizations and churches will also find the content of this post useful for them. But in all, it is the word of God for us all to learn and be blessed from to the glory and praise of the living God.
When I did a series of posts on the book of Esther, one of the lessons that was shared was the importance of physical appearance and beauty in marriage. It was an interesting discovery that no matter in what little proportion, it is necessary that a woman pays attention to her looks and takes care of her physical appearance. Although it is also important to emphasize that the physical beauty is not a sustaining factor in marriage but a pleasant spice in the union. It must also be done within the context of moderation. In fact, it should be done in agreement with God. Esther we see in the book of Esther chapter 2, did not take any extra beauty treatment save of what was recommended for her (Esther 2:15), yet by the grace of the God of the Jews, she won the favour of everyone who saw her and won the favour and approval of the king. So in as much as beauty is a very nice spice in marriage, we need to work at it in agreement with God.
But what we are learning today is a bit different from the story of Esther, Ruth in her own case did not get noticed by Boaz on account of beauty but of deeds. So more important a factor than beauty in marriage is that word called CHARACTER. From the passage before us, we will notice first the testimony of the harvester's foreman concerning Ruth the Moabitess. He said she had worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter. This I believe is good enough a reason for any man to seek to want to know more about a woman. No man wants to marry a lazy wife, no man wants to be husband to a liability of a wife. When a wife is lazy, then how will she be able to fulfill her God given assignment of a help-meet (suitable help) in the life of her husband. Boaz saw the dedication with which Ruth was carrying on her duty, she was a face he had not seen before on his field and so he inquired about her, and the report he got was something interesting to him - she had worked steadily from morning till now was the report Boaz got of Ruth.
When Boaz eventually spoke to Ruth and she noticed his kindness, she asked him why he took notice of her, and the response she got from him is another lesson that we need to consider. He said “he had heard of all she has done for her mother-in-law,” but what I love about Boaz response was the issue of Ruth leaving her father and mother to take refuge under the wings of the God of Israel. As I have said in my last post, that was the distinguishing factor between Ruth and Orpah. Orpah just as Ruth took care of her mother-in-law while in Moab, but she returned to her gods while Ruth decided to take refuge under the wings of the God of Israel and was rewarded for it.
Beauty might attract a woman to a man’s heart, but it cannot sustain her there. Beauty, good as it may be, is irrelevant for a woman in fulfilling her God given assignment as a suitable help to her husband. Physical beauty is good, and for me as a person I really love to look good. In fact it’s one of the things I pray to God about. I always tell Him that He made and I will appreciate if He helps me retain my beauty, and when I hear people tell me I look younger than my age at 40, it gladdens my heart. Most especially when my husband remembers to tell me I look good, I smile within me and never forget to tell God how grateful I am for my looks. But my beauty is not what my marriage is built on, neither is it a sustaining factor for my marriage. If I look even more beautiful than this but lack good character, then my beauty amounts to nothing. A beautiful woman who lacks good character is a zero wife.
Ruth did not just work hard, she took care of her mother-in-law. One other thing we need to note is that Ruth showed respect when she spoke to Boaz. When she was going to speak to Boaz in Ruth 2:10, the Bible said she bowed with her face to the ground, which is a sign of respect in those days. All these are the tiny details that must have amounted to Boaz's attraction to Ruth. The testimony he heard about her, her attitude towards work and her respect for people are all tiny details that make a whole of impression about how much of a wife Ruth is capable of being.
So as you prepare to be a wife, I pray the Lord will build in you the virtues and qualities of a good wife that supersedes outward beauty. And as you prepare to take a wife, do not limit your decision to what you see in the looks of that lady, a blend of good looks and good character is most suitable for you. With the help of God take hold of the best.