“Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.”
A ring in a pigs nose does not make it any less a pig or more attractive. It actually makes the pig look more foolish. It also reflects poorly on whoever wasted a ring on a pigs nose. This is not necessarily a reflection on piercings today. In Solomon’s day a pierced nose in a pig’s snout was a way to control their misbehavior. Solomon wants us to know that trading the pursuit of virtue for external beauty will leave a person looking foolish and stupid. Discretion is a gift of God that only humans created in His image can access. Other animals may have built in instincts but only people alone enjoy this gift of the nature of the divine. When we choose to ignore it and we chase things at a glandular level we make ourselves like the beasts of the field. As incongruous as a beautiful woman who tarnishes her beauty with a large ring through her nose, so large in Solomon’s day that it had to be lifted for her to eat, so is the incongruity of a follow of God who tries to cover that relationship with the ugliness of the fallen world. In a practical sense internal beauty keeps growing until we die. External beauty will eventually fade. Today pursue the inner beauty of God’s Spirit shining through you. #BeTheEdge
“Rather, 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.” 1 Peter 3:4 NIV
