The Beauty of a Pastor's Wife

The Beauty of a Pastor's Wife.

WHAT'S BEAUTY? 

Beauty in this regard is a state of being made by the formation of some or those abstract property, qualities which please the aesthetic senses of the beholder and complements the physical beauty of the subject under study. 

WHO IS A PASTOR'S WIFE?

In the light of the ministerial activities and the constitution of The Pastor's Wife Welfare Organization International, a Pastor's wife is any female person who is married to a male Christian minister of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ whether he be called Bishop, Apostle, Prophet, Pastor, Evangelist, or whatsoever name or title he may chose for himself irrespective of the female person’s（woman’s）spiritual status. It is immaterial if the husband attended Theological school or not, or if the woman is born again or not.

Now, I will speak to the rest of you, though I do not have a direct command from the Lord. If a Christian man has a wife who is an unbeliever and she is willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her. And if a Christian woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he is willing to continue living with her, she must not leave him. For the Christian wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the Christian husband brings holiness to his marriage. 1 Corinthians 7：12-14 NLT

The purpose of the above Bible portion is to protect marriages that already existed before the man or woman of God went into the ministry. 

A man may be said to have been an unbeliever  and married in that status with the wife having no knowledge of the Word of God or what Christian life looks like. Suddenly, Jesus Christ calls in a certain day and changes the man‘s life by drawing him to Himself, the man becomes a believer, then a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Remember, he was neither drawn unto Jesus Christ nor called into the ministry with the wife, the wife remains in her status as an unbeliever. In this case, do you advise that the man should send his wife packing? No, provided that the woman wants to stay and faithfully marry her husband. The woman remains his wife irrespective of her spiritual status. As the man has become a Christian minister  — Pastor, who will the wife become？She, automatically, becomes the Pastor‘s wife. A Pastor‘s wife without training, a Pastor‘s wife without any knowledge of the ministry. In this case, there is a very big work for the Pastor-husband. The first parish of the pastor is his wife. If he fails to pay attention to this parish, his ministry will die. In this case, you are to teach her, step by step with love, on how to be part of you in the ministry by first of all focusing on her salvation. Carry her along in your activities and meetings. She will certainly learn by participation.

Going back to our topic of discussion, "The Beauty of a Pastor's Wife"; what do you understand by this? What you take as beauty negates this topic as I know you will be considering the feminine bodily curves, the facial beauty, body size, the make-up, the bangles, rings, attachments, clothing and what have you. No ma, they are just far from my intention today. We've in the past discussed the beauty of a Pastor's Wife, but that was from the physical point of view. Today's discussion is from the opposite of our earlier meetings. 

Now, what does God consider beauty in relation to the Pastor's Wife?

1Peter 3:3-4, NLT

3. Don't be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes.

4. You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.

The Pastor's Wife in today's social life is one of the powerful influencers especially in the Christian religious circle. 

"The striking beauty of her spirit may win the soul of her unbelieving husband. Her adherence to God’s design in marriage can proclaim the glory of the gospel. Her faith in and knowledge of God’s word can spill over into her spheres of ministry." - Amanda Criss

HOW TO BE A BEAUTIFUL PASTOR'S WIFE

Beauty is determined by who beholds it and it's qualified by the properties that form it. By physical rating, the beauty of a woman is determined by the make-up she wears, the hair style, the clothes, and so much more. But, in this case, as we earlier discussed above; the under listed will aid or inform us of how a Pastor's Wife will be made beautiful. 

1. How long a Pastor's Wife dwells in the Word of God determines how beautiful she becomes in her heart and the followership she commands.  

Ephesians 5:26

So that He might sanctify her, HAVING CLEANSED HER BY THE WASHING of water WITH THE WORD. 

2 Timothy 2:21

Therefore, IF ANYONE CLEANSES himself (HERSELF) FROM THESE THINGS, he (SHE) WILL BE A VESSEL FOR HONOR, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

No matter how beautiful you think you are, your beauty can't be seen or noticed when you're dirty. To showcase your beauty, it will be required that you take your bath from time to time; make yourself appear neat. 

The Pastor's Wife gets attracted to people by the glory of God that radiates on her; this glory drops off on her by the length of time she spends studying the Word of God. The Word cleanses and purifies from all uncleanliness. It's your beauty that determines the type and class of people who look at you and how long they can stand to look at you. This beauty is the glory of God. How do you attract this glory to radiate on you, it's by spending time in a place of studies - studying the Word of God. 

There's glory in the Word of God and this is the beauty that radiates on the Pastor's Wife. This determines who comes close to you, who gives you gifts without you demanding for it, and much more.

How long do you take to study the Word of God? You read all the news on social media,  you know the latest style of clothes in town but you find it difficult to study the Word of God which beautifies you as a Pastor's Wife yet you say that the Church members do not love you. One of the things that will make the church members like and follow you is just the glory of God and you get this from studying the Word of God.

2. The length of time you spend in a prayer meeting with the Lord determines His glory on you. The glory of the Lord is your beauty as a Pastor's Wife.

Exodus 34:29-35, NIV

29. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. 

30. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 

31. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 

32. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.

33. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 

34. But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 

35. They saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.

Moses' face became very radiant owing to his presence with the Lord, the glory of the Lord rubbed off on him. This also applies to a Pastor's Wife who spends time praying in His presence.

3. The Pastor's Wife's beautification is to a greater degree dependent on her ability to connect with realms of heaven in worship. 

Worship in this regard is the reverence of divinity above all nature and creation by humanity and expressing same in the daily acts of love over humanity. 

John Piper described Worship as the "... valuing or a treasuring of God above all things.”

Rachel Johnson states in her words that "Worship is something we do, but it also does something to us – and it is all for God’s purposes." 

For worship to go beyond nature and science and manifest in a certain way so much so that it beautifies humanity with glory, it therefore must transcend beyond realms permeating divine consciousness thereby transforming humanity into a new nature - glorious being. As we spread out our heart in worship to God, it falls back on us like dews. 

I WILL BE AS THE DEW UNTO ISRAEL: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. HOSEA 14:5

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.   

2 Corinthians 3:18, NKJV

Worship draws man to God and transforms him into a new nature. You can't worship God in spirit and remain as you came to Him. Your service is your worship. Your obedience is also your worship. Worship is connecting heart to heart with God. 

The dew in Hosea 14:5 is the supernatural fragrance arising from the nature of God unto Israel, the Pastor's Wife. Dews are drawn from high humidity according to geographers, so supernatural fragrance takes its root from the nature of God. We wear perfume to small good in the public places; in the case of beautifying a Pastor's Wife, she wears the nature of God that fumes from worship. Worship is the supernatural fragrance that fumes from the nature of God and rubs off on humanity. 

In one of our meetings in 2022, we defined Beauty as the combination of qualities, such as character, intelligence, charisma, shape, colour, form or make-up that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight. To buttress our discussion, beauty is more than what you see, it is not just how you look on the outside but who you are on the inside is what determines true beauty.

Your outer beauty will capture the eyes, your inner beauty will capture the heart.   - Steven Aitchison

We are discussing the beauty that captures the heart instead of the eyes. Your heart determines and defines your intention towards anything you're for. Your outer beauty could be very aesthetic and pleasing to the eyes but very deceptive. If you can understand the heart of a man, you can be assured of the very personality of the person since facial beauty is deceptive.

Beauty is being the best possible version of yourself on the inside and out.  -  Anonymous

Reverting to what beautifies a Pastor's Wife from her inside before she gets to her visual beauty, we then have 

4. Character and Attitude: The Pastor's Wife's beauty of the heart are the distinguishing Character and Attitude imbedded in her, those characters and attitude are what endear her and make her cherished by people around. It's mostly the above that make people give her gifts without waiting for her to make a request.

What is Character? It is the mental and moral qualities, principles and values distinctive to an individual. Since we are discussing about distinguishing Character, we can therefore say that it's the good mental and moral qualities, principles and values distinctive to the Pastor's Wife which beautifully distinguish her and make her pleasing to the aesthetic senses of the people around her. Attitudes in its own are generally referred to as the positive or negative views of somebody. In this case, we shall be referring to the positive views only, which is positive attitude. These values and principles of good living that form good characters and attitude are also being referenced to in Philippians 4:8 thus;

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are TRUE, whatsoever things are HONEST, whatsoever things are JUST , whatsoever things are PURE, whatsoever things are LOVELY, whatsoever things are of GOOD REPORT; if there be any VIRTUE, and if there be any PRAISE, think on these things.  Philippians 4:8 KJV

THINK ON THESE THINGS as your guide or CODE for GOOD CHARACTERS AND ATTITUDE.

1. Whatsoever things that are TRUE.

2. Whatsoever things that are HONEST. 

3. Whatsoever things that are JUST. 

4. Whatsoever things that are PURE.

5. Whatsoever things that are LOVELY. 

6. Whatsoever things that are of GOOD REPORT. 

7. Whatsoever things that have GOOD VIRTUE.

8. Whatsoever things that can be PRAISED.

In ROTARY INTERNATIONAL, we also have the MORAL CODE that guides all Rotarians which is known as The Four-Way Test.  

The Four-Way Test of the things we think, say or do is a test used by Rotarians world-wide as a moral code for personal and business relationships. The test can be applied to almost any aspect of life. 

1. Is it the TRUTH?

2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?

3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Going further to what exactly beautifies a Pastor's Wife and endears her to both her environment and the church members, we then have

5. Her ability to skilfully manifest her intelligence in a way that wins the heart of many. 

What's intelligence? Intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills for the benefit of humanity.

Merriam Webster's Dictionary defines it as the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations. The ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment or to think abstractly as measured by objective criteria and went further to say it is Mental acuteness.

Now, for intelligence to be skilfully manifested in a certain way that captures the heart of many, there needs be;

1. Already acquired knowledge or skill in the area the intelligence is needed for manifestation. You don't manifest intelligence in your area of ignorance. Intelligence is manifested in intelligence - your applicable knowledge. 

2. The already acquired knowledge or skill needs be skilfully and smartly applied.

3. The application of such already acquired knowledge or skill must be beneficial to mankind to have the ability of capturing the heart of many.

Celestine Aneke

RECTOR,

THE PASTOR'S WIFE INSTITUTE