True Beauty

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A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.
She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.
She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

(Proverbs 31:10-31)

Read Proverbs this weekend, and I paused to meditate on the chapter on the wife of noble character again.

The qualities of the "ideal" wife in God's sight are clear:

She fears the Lord. She is a blessing to her husband, looks after him and her children well. She is hardworking, resourceful, skilled and capable, an excellent helper to her husband. She is of noble character; strong, wise and has a kind heart for the the poor and less fortunate.

Good looks and a shapely figure somehow does not appear in the list. Instead God reminds us of how fleeting external beauty is, and instead reiterates that it is a woman who fears the Lord who is to be praised. This is again re-emphasized in 1 Peter 3:3-5:

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.

I think we guys need to be reminded of this again and again. The media is bombarding us with the world's definition of feminine beauty everyday, and it is hard for us not to be influenced...sometimes so subtly that we may not even be conscious of it.

Yet, if left unchecked, and if we do not allow the Word of God and the Spirit to renew our minds in this area, the wrong perception of beauty is very likely to harm us in many ways. Exaggerated? Maybe not. It affects us at different stages in our relationships with women and can potentially deceive us into making wrong decisions at critical times:

(1) It may cause us to place more emphasis and priority on a woman's appearance during our dating & courtship years....we tend to choose to date ladies who are "pleasant & good" looking...rather than those with godly characters who may be less attractive. With that, the danger of choosing a spouse based on our criteria with a disproportionate emphasis on looks.

(2) We married guys are not spared either. If we were to bring the same warped values of feminine beauty into our marriage, it will not be long before real problems can arise. How long does it take for a married man to start having roving eyes if external beauty takes precedence in how he values his wife? What will it lead to? Unfaithfulness, adultery.....so many sad stories out there.

Of course, to be honest, all guys will prefer a godly woman who is beautiful in appearance as well. I think that is perfectly normal. But that is also an "ideal" that may not be realistic in this imperfect world. Our expectations must be guided by the Holy Spirit, and we need to be honest with ourselves on the scale of importance that we attach to looks, and re-calibrate if necessary.

So, I think it is time for us guys to refocus our eyes to align with God's definition of a woman's beauty. The faster we learn it and have it hard-coded into our value system, the better it is for us. Which is why I thought Pastor YC's message to the young adult guys 2 Saturdays ago to place character above appearance in choosing a spouse is so timely.

We need to recognise true beauty when we see it - beauty that does not depend on outward appearance, but comes from the inner self.

And I need to see my wife from that light more and more (in addition to her already beautiful outward appearance, of course...:P ), and recognise what a beautiful lady she is, and really appreciate how close she fits the God's description of an ideal wife in Proverbs 31.
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Carmen & Eunice

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And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. (Matt 18:5)

Yesterday, I procrastinated no longer.

This was something the Lord has placed upon my heart since the earlier part of the year. I had promised the Lord that I would do it this year. But shame on me that for months, I just sat on it. Not that I am unwilling, but I simply allowed the business of life to get the better of me.

In other words, I kept God on hold for months.

The sermons over the last few weeks on financial freedom-giving to the poor and on the importance of obeying God's laws in our lives were, I believe, gentle reminders from God for me to fulfill what I agreed to do. (He could have zapped me....but thankfully, He is always gracious and merciful).

So I determined to get it done yesterday. I adopted my 2nd child under Compassion Canada (http://www.compassion.ca/), a Christian organisation dedicated to eliminating the root causes of poverty for children around the globe. For more than 50 years, Compassion’s ministry has successfully released children from spiritual, physical, economic and social poverty in Jesus’ name.

As I did with my first sponsored child (Carmen from the Dominican Republic) under the program, I opted not to choose the child I would sponsor. I left it to God to lead me through the organisation to the child most in need of aid.

And so God guided me through Compassion Canada ...to Eunice from Kenya!

Eunice Ayuma from Kenya

Carmen Adriana Cedano Zorrilla
from the Dominican Republic

Don't get me wrong...I am not here to boast about my "generosity".

To be truthful, in view of how blessed we are here in Singapore, the money that I am giving each month for the 2 young children is really nothing to shout about. I am simply obeying God by starting to do what I should be doing in the first place..... instead, I genuinely feel privileged that I can be a blessing to young children from different corners of the world; not to mention that these small acts of kindness to children always please the heart of God.

So do pray for me, that even though I may never get to meet these 2 special children, God will use me to bless their lives. And that I will be faithful in writing to them to encourage them, as well as to regularly pray for them.


Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27)
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Law & Grace

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Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. (Gal 6:7)

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. (1 John 1:5-6)

In this time and age, I believe that very few of us err on the side of being too "religious" in following God's laws. Instead, many of us are guilty of taking God's grace for granted.

I myself find myself guilty on many counts, especially after reflecting on today's sermon. Almost unconsciously, I have so often downplayed the many failings in my behaviour and character, assuming that I should not be "over-zealous" and "over-righteous"; and also that God's grace is "sufficient" to cover my "weaknesses".

Today's sermon reminded me that I needed to repent. This is no way to treat God's laws. Taking advantage of His mercy and grace is not the way a Christian should live.

Areas of my life that demanded my immediate attention:

(1) Enforcing the spiritual disciplines. It is time for me to stop using my busy life as an excuse for my failings in maintaining a consistent prayer and devotion life. Lack of discipline in this area is simply making a statement that there are areas in my life that takes precedence over my time with God. It should never be.

(2) Self centeredness & a lack of love for people. To be honest, very often, I do not really care if my neighbours and my colleagues die without coming to know Christ. I may not admit it, but often, as long as my own life and that of my loved ones are going well, I simply do not care enough for anyone else. That lack of heart for people is not of the Lord. How can I be a pastor in the marketplace if I lack even the most basic pre-requisite - a shepherd's heart for the people? How often do I pray for the people around me?

(3) Emphasis on godliness, not just respectability. Like what Pastor YC told me...I need to remember that the most important audience of my life is not the people around me, but the Person within me. So what if I "look" respectable in the eyes of the world? Should I be satisfied with that? No. There is still so much filth to get rid of in my heart, my mind. Hidden lusts, anger, envy, materialism. What I secretly yearn for. The world may not see them, but God does.

Time to re-establish God's laws and perimeters in all these areas in my life.
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Integrity

The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out. (Proverbs 10:9)

It is that time of the year again, when our bosses ask each individual to draft up his list of "accomplishments" over the last 12 months, so as to help our bosses rate our performance, and in the process, decide our increment and bonuses.

By the grace of God, I have so far done well in the company under all my previous bosses. This year, however, I have a new boss, who may not know me too well or what I have done as he has only been on the job for about 8 months.

So the first temptation was for me to "spruce up" my list of accomplishments so as to ensure that I make the right impression. However, the danger in doing so is always that one tends to over-sell and claim more credit for projects and initiatives that are actually due, or give the impression that results are better than what they actually are. Part and parcel of marketing in the real world.

This may seem trivial, but it cannot be denied that if I were to give in to this temptation, I will be compromising my integrity. And how important is that in the sight of God? Very.

In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. (Titus 2:7-8)

Need to remember that "the LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1Sam 16:7). Time to practise what I preach and have a clean conscience before God.

So I have completed my list and submitted to my boss. Nothing "impressive", but just a single page listing all that I have done over the year, in point form; facts that I can honestly stand before God with.

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Trivial? Maybe.....but I needed to be reminded that it is often the small things that reveal our true character.

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Josephs & Daniels of the Marketplace (1) - Kaka

A devout evangelical Christian, Kaká became engrossed in religion at the age of 12: "I learnt that it is faith that decides whether something will happen or not." He suffered a career-threatening and possibly paralysis-inducing spine fracture at the age of 18 as a result of a swimming pool accident, but remarkably made a full recovery. The next year, Kaká made his comeback on the pitch, when he came in as a reserve-substitute in the Torneio Rio-São Paulo final match and scored two goals, among them the match-winner, in less than five minutes. He attributes his recovery to God.

This year, He famously removed his jersey to reveal an "I Belong to Jesus" T-shirt and openly engaged in prayer moments after the final whistle of Milan's 2007 Champions League triumph. Kaká previously sported the same shirt during Milan's 2004 Scudetto celebration and after Brazil's defeat of Germany in the 2002 World Cup final, and had the same phrase, along with "God Is Faithful," stitched onto the tongues of his boots.

During the postmatch celebration following Brazil's 4-1 win over Argentina in the 2005 FIFA Confeferations Cup final, he and several of his teammates, among them backup keeper Gomes and defender Lucio, wore T-shirts with "Jesus Loves You" printed on them in various languages.

Kaká is a member of the organization Atletas de Cristo ("Athletes of Christ"). His goal celebrations consists of him pointing to the sky as a sign of thanks to God after every goal, and is proud that he was a virgin when he married. Since November 2004, he has served as an Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Program, the youngest to do so at the time of his appointment.

Recently, in response to Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen's assertion that in the modern age, "no one" stays a virgin till their wedding night, Kaka simply replied that he and his wife were glad to be virgins when they got married as “it tested our love”.

“The Bible,” continues Kaka, “teaches that true love waits until marriage, and if our life today is so beautiful, I think it is because we waited.” Kaka added that while “there are always temptations”, the sacrifices that he and his wife made for each other have been more than worth it. (extracted from Wikipedia)

Cool dude.

The market place needs more like him. Christians who are at the top of their professions and yet not ashamed to stand for God's truths and values. Highly visible folks who can be the type of role models to our kids.

People who are not afraid of being ridiculed for standing firm on God's values instead of following the ways of the world.

Thanks Kaka, for shining for Jesus. May the Lord's face shine upon you always, and may you continue to bring His light to the people through the world of football.

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