Elizabeth George - Beautiful in Gods Eyes for Young Women. Looking Good from the Inside Out

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are ttaken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Verses marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture verses marked NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible , Copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NI r V are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Readers Version. NIV. Copyright 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotes in italics indicate authors emphasis.

Cover by Dugan Design Group, Bloomington, Minnesota

BEAUTIFUL IN GODS EYES FOR YOUNG WOMEN

Copyright 2014 by Elizabeth George

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

George, Elizabeth, 1944-

Beautiful in Gods eyes for young women / Elizabeth George.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-7369-2855-7 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-5522-5 (eBook)

1. Teenage girlsReligious life. 2. Christian teenagersReligious life. 3. Bible. Proverbs, XXXI,10-31Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title.

BV4551.3.G44 2014

248.833dc23

2013034393

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This book is lovingly dedicated to all the girls in my life:

To my daughter Katherine, and her daughter Taylor

To my daughter Courtney, and her daughters Katie, Grace, and Lily

I thank God for each of you and your beautiful hearts every day of my life.

Contents

Proverbs 31:10

Proverbs 31:11

Proverbs 31:12

Proverbs 31:13

Proverbs 31:14

Proverbs 31:15

Proverbs 31:16

Proverbs 31:17

Proverbs 31:18

Proverbs 31:19

Proverbs 31:20

Proverbs 31:21-22

Proverbs 31:23

Proverbs 31:24

Proverbs 31:25

Proverbs 31:26

Proverbs 31:27

Proverbs 31:28-29

Proverbs 31:30

Proverbs 31:31

Dear precious friend,

As a young woman, Im sure you think every day about how you look, whats in and whats out of fashion, and whos cool and who isnt. Daily life as a girl of any age can be a struggle when you dont know what to do, how to act, and whats important.

Well, welcome to this exciting book about beautytrue beauty, authentic beauty. Ive entitled it Beautiful in Gods Eyes for Young Women because it tells you once and for all exactly what God says is important in life, and exactly what is beautiful in His eyes. If you have a relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ, guess what? You are beautiful in Gods eyes. Nothing and no one, and no fads or popular people or trends can ever change how God sees you. He has made you beautiful in Him.

As you go through this book featuring Proverbs 31:10-31, you will discover character traits that you can grow in and nurture in your life to be beautiful inside and out, qualities that honor the Lord and bless others. No matter how old you become, and no matter how your life circumstances changewhether you marry or not, whether you have children or notthese character traits stand forever as Gods will and purpose and plan for you every single day of your life.

So grab a friendor two! Get some copies of this book to share. Together, go on the life-changing journey and beauty makeover God provides in His Word, the Bible. Youll see your confidence bloom. Youll discover your personal talents and abilities and how to develop them. And youll feel your heart expand as you step outside of yourself and extend mercy and goodness and a helping hand to those in need, beginning right in your own home.

And best of all? You will reap the priceless reward of knowing God is pleased, of knowing what the right thing to do isand doing it. No one can put a value on this kind of confidenceconfidence in the Lord as you walk closely with Him.

As you study, Ill be praying for you. Im already so proud of you in the Lord just because you desire to be even more beautiful in His eyes!

In His great and amazing love,

Your friend and sister in Christ,

Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.

P ROVERBS 31:10 ( KJV )

I t was a dream come true. I was finally going to meet her! Im talking about the woman in Proverbs 31, a woman who was so beautiful in Gods eyes. Shes the woman well be getting to know throughout this book. And the only reason I was on my way to see where she lived in Israel was because my husband, Jim, was taking a group of seminary students to Israel for a study course. Im still so thankful he invited me to come along!

You see, Jim knew. He knew that for 20 years Id done everything I could to learn about this incredible woman. He knew I had memorized many versions of this Bible passage in Proverbs 31:10-31.

From our credit card account he also knew that I had made her life a personal study project for that same 20-year span. Yes, I had invested heavily in a library of books about the book of Proverbsand especially about this woman in chapter 31.

Jim knew that knowing as much as I could about her was a lifetime goal of mine. Yes, he definitely knew what meeting her would mean to me. As I said, a trip to her homeland? To meet the Proverbs 31 woman? That was indeed a dream come true!

But before heading off to Israel, I made a list of Things to See. I noted every cultural element of Proverbs 31:10-31 that I wanted to see for myself in Israel. Oh yeah, I was on a mission! Who can find a virtuous woman? Proverbs 31:10 asks. Well, I was going to find her!

An Alphabet of Character

Where, you might wonder, did this woman come from? And how did the woman in Proverbs 31 become a standard for beauty the way God sees it? Believe it or not, she began with a real flesh-and-blood woman!

Once upon a time there was a young prince who would someday be king. He had many lessons to learn before he took the throne. So his mother often sat down with him and taught him how to be a godly king, and also how to find an outstanding wife.