THE BOOK OF PROVERBS Sex and Beauty Proverbs

Sex and Beauty � Sex was designed by God to enhance the joy that a husband a wife experience in an exclusive marriage relationship: �Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. (5: 15 -19)

Sex and Beauty � Sex was designed by God to be an integral part of marriage from the very beginning – even before the existence of sin: �Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. (Gen 2: 24 -25) � When we pursue our sinfully disordered sexual desires outside of the context of God’s original design for sex, we bring much harm to ourselves and others (cf. Proverbs 7: 7 -23)

Sex and Beauty � Physical beauty, likewise, was designed to give pleasure to a married couple as they look at one another. � How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights! (Song of Sol 7: 6) � How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves. How handsome you are, my lover! Oh, how charming! (Song of Sol 1: 15 -16 b - NIV) � A woman’s physical beauty can be a snare for both women who possess it and the men who are drawn to it as this proverb illustrates: � Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion. (11: 22)

Sex and Beauty � Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion. (11: 22) � Women in the ancient world would sometimes wear a gold ring in their nose to make themselves attractive (cf. Gen 24: 47). But in this case, the beauty of the ring is eclipsed by the ugliness of the pig and therefore wasted. � Application for Girls: though physical beauty is desirable, you should give a higher priority to building good character – otherwise you will find that your lack of discretion will ruin whatever benefits you have gained through your beauty. � Application for Boys: if, in the course of looking for a suitable wife, you make physical beauty your highest priority – one day you may find that you were so focused on the beautiful “ring” when you reached for it, that you didn’t notice that there was a lot of nasty baggage that came with that ring!

Sex and Beauty � How does this apply to our kids? � Don’t underestimate the possibility of children experiencing sexual desires at an early age. � Don’t shy away from instructing your children in this area. They often know more than you think they do. � If your child does disclose to you something in this area that shocks you at first, be careful not to overreact, thereby shutting down the conversation and lose the opportunity to discuss things and help them. � Help your children understand the important distinction between inner and outer beauty. Teach girls the importance of modesty. Warn boys about the destructive nature of lust and porn. � With boys and girls stress the importance of God’s design for sex and waiting until marriage. � Beware of sexual predators! � Teach your children the biblical distinctions between men and women and why that’s important.