Unfading
     Beauty

Place the number that best reflects your response to the statement in the space provided. *

*Your number is the sum of all of the items that apply to you. An interpretation of your consultation is found at the conclusion of the article.

When we begin an exercise program, a set of baseline measurements is helpful. The same is true with Tongue Toning. Let’s collect some baseline measurements by completing the chart below.

Having completed the baseline measurements, respond to this single evaluation question: Am I going to allow something that is ________% (insert your calculation) of my body height control me?

Since your “Tongue Toning Baseline Chart” is complete and you responded to the initial evaluation, you need to select the order of your Tongue Toning regiment. You may choose from the following options:

The Appreciative Regiment
One of the most evident signs of genuine godliness is a sincere display of appreciation before your heavenly Father. What, according to Romans 1:21-27, was the tragic fault of those who have drifted away from God? The root cause was thanklessness. Those with beautiful tongues consistently express appreciation to their heavenly Father and others.

The Quiet Regiment
The Quiet Regiment is a difficult one to implement because it takes more muscle power to keep the tongue silent than to activate it. James 1:19 challenges us that we are to be “slow to speak.” You can often be a great help to others by simply listening.

The Affirming Regiment
The act of affirmation inspires others with renewed courage, spirit, and hope. It affirms individuals for who they are rather than for what they do. Proverbs 25:11 teaches us the value of affirming words: “a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”

The Contented Regiment
A grumbling, complaining tongue is an ugly tongue, while a contented tongue is a beautiful tongue. Going through life with a complaining spirit is like driving a car with your eye constantly on the rear view mirror. Philippians 2:14-15 teaches us that we are to “do all things without grumbling or disputing . . .” Instead of complaining about what you don’t have, practice the truth of Philippians 3:13-14 and press forward to what lies ahead.

At the end of the age, we will be judged by how we have used our tongues. Matthew 12:36 teaches that “for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.” What type of Tongue Toning Regiment will make your tongue a beautiful tongue?

Beauty Consultation for My Tongue Interpretation

© Pat Ennis, 2007

How beautiful is your tongue - or have you never really considered your tongue in terms of its attractiveness?  You normally don’t check it in the mirror multiple times during the day, go on shopping trips for it, schedule appointments for it at the tongue beautician, or purchase cosmetics for it.  Yet, it is the tongue, more than the shape of your face or the dimensions of your figure or your theological knowledge, which determines your beauty.

Physically, the tongue is one of the body’s most versatile organs.  It plays an important role in speaking and in eating.  It is also the bearer of taste and tactile sensations and so gives you pleasure in eating.  It gives warning of possible injury by registering pain when foods are too hot and revulsion when they are spoiled.  In its role as manipulator, the tongue takes food into the mouth, moves it between the upper and lower teeth for chewing, and then molds the crushed and moistened particles into a ball for swallowing.

Spiritually, James 3:3-5 teaches that even though the tongue is small, it has the power to control a woman and everything in her life.  Isaiah 6:1-8 relates the account of how God called Isaiah to become a prophet.  He did so by first giving Isaiah a vision of His awesome holiness and then by sanctifying the prophet’s tongue.  Isaiah realized, after catching a glimpse of the purity of God, that his tongue needed to be purified (6:5-8).
    
James 3:8 reminds us that no man, only God, by His power, can tame or beautify the tongue, thus our need to schedule an appointment at God’s Tongue Toning Spa to maintain a beautiful tongue.  Let’s begin our appointment by completing the brief beauty consultation for your tongue...

Next’s week’s posting will contain the “Beauty Consultation for Your Tongue.”

© Patricia Ennis 2007

Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her own works praise her in the gates.
—PROV 31:31

The reward of cultivating these eleven principles is presented in Proverbs 31:31 as the worthy woman receives recognition “in the gates,” which refers to the public assembly of people.  The worthy woman does not have to brag about herself but, rather, is praised by those who know her best.    The woman who chooses to embrace the principles found in Proverbs 31 is usually rewarded in this life and always in the hereafter.  A review of these principles suggests some representative, potential benefits that the worthy woman might anticipate:

Being Virtuous

• An unobstructed relationship with her Heavenly Father (Matt 5:8).
• Blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of her salvation (Ps 24:1-5).
• The assurance that her influence will never die (Prov 31:28, 2 Tim 1:3-7).

Being Trustworthy

• That her husband trusts her (Prov 31:11).
• An honorable reputation (Prov 31:25).
• The confidence that as she walks uprightly her Heavenly Father will provide grace, glory, and all that is good for her (Ps 84:11).

Being Energetic

• The family benefits from her home business (Prov 31:24).
• Enjoying professional and spiritual stimulation (Prov 27:17).
• Exemption from reaping the fruit of slothfulness (Prov 19:15).

Being Physically Fit

• Enjoying the tasks she undertakes to their fullest potential (Col 3:23).
• That her body is an appropriate dwelling place for the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19-20).
• Avoiding the type of judgment and denouncement God executed on the women of Judah  (Isa 3:16-26).

Being Economical

• Embracing a spiritual attitude toward money and material possessions (1 Tim 6:6-10).
• Experiencing the joy of generosity (2 Cor 9:6-8).
• Perceiving that her purchases are sound choices—no guilt (Prov 31:18).

Being Unselfish

• The joy of giving to others with the right attitude (2 Cor 9:7).
• Being pleasing to the Lord (Prov 19:17).
• Enjoying the fruit of giving to others (Acts 9:36-42).

Being Prepared

• Meeting the design of God’s plan for her life (Jer 17:7-8).
• Being an authentic role model for others (1 Cor 11:1).
• A lack of frustration and regret (Matt 25:21, 23).

Being Honorable

• That her moral integrity allows her to reflect fulfillment in later life, rather than a wasted life filled with remorse and sin (2 Cor 9:6; Gal 6:7-9).
• Behaving in a way that reflects her position as a daughter in God’s royal family (Gen 1:26-27).
• A confidence that her convictions are based upon biblical principles rather than cultural trends (Ps 119:11, 105).

Being Prudent

• That people are willing to confide in her and trust her to retain their confidences (Prov 15:1-2).
• That people will seek and follow her advice (Col 4:6).
• The privilege of encouraging and affirming others (Heb 10:24-25).

Being Loving

• Enjoying a healthy, growing, love relationship with the Lord (Matt 22:37).
• That her closest individuals love, honor, respect, and praise her (Prov 31:28-29).
• Living in such a way that she is an example for the “younger women” (Titus 2:3-5).

Fearing God

• Being a positive role model because of her faith (the epistle of James in action).
• Continuing as a faithful servant (Matt 25:21).
• Enjoying the benefits of learning from the experiences of others (1 Cor 10).

Realizing that her motive for cultivating these eleven principles is to glorify God (1 Cor 10:31), to hear her Heavenly Father say,  “ Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt 25:21), and to cast her rewards at the feet of her King (Rev 4:10-11), the worthy woman pursues the eternal crown with vigor!

Next week’s posting is focused on a Final Thought About Portraying Christian Femininity.

"Portraying Christian Femininity" by Patricia E. Ennis is from the book Think Biblically edited by John MacArthur with the Master's College Faculty, copyright 2003. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org