More Precious Than Jewels

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised" (Pr 31:30).

Everytime I connect my laptop to Internet, the home page of the company that offers Internet automatically pops up. I generally ignore viewing it, but recently, when I was about to close the home page, my eyes fell on the title, “Celebs without Make-up.”

Being curious to know how they would appear, I clicked the link and saw the pictures of the top admired Indian actresses who makes hearts flutter. To my surprise, I found a world of difference in how these celebrities looked with and without make-up. I realized, much of their beauty projected in movies and ads is superficial.

Granted that the beauty of these women is authentic, but does it not still fade away over the years? Are you aware of the beauty which is genuine and that which never fades off but shines even brighter?

Physical beauty comes and fades away, just like the flower which blossoms and withers. But the inner beauty of a woman, that godly character, is far more attractive and lasts forever, just like gold that does not fade or lose its lustre.

It is good to witness the advancement of women today. Unlike the past, the modern woman is more educated, more talented, got into more top positions, earns more money, has more freedom and proven more accomplished. However, women who are more beautiful in their inner character, manifesting that gentle and gracious spirit as mentioned in 1Peter 3:1-6, are rarely found.

It is to motivate such unfading beauty in women, Mrs. Clarice Joy David has written a book “More Precious Than Jewels: A Wise Woman In Building Her Home.” Based on biblical foundations, she wrote how a wise woman could cultivate beautiful character, which is more precious than jewels and more lasting than a beautiful flower, resulting in being a blessing to husband, children and others around.

Well, I love reading biographies and I read them in two ways: one by reading books and the other by watching live examples. I know Mrs. Clarice in person, whom I call ‘aunty’, and have the privilege of being close to her family. After years of observing her life, I think I can fairly make this statement—what she has written in the book is very much in consistent with how she lives.

In order to testify what God’s amazing grace can accomplish in a person, I would like to share for your encouragement few things about Mrs. Clarice.

A Woman of Hospitality: When I think of Mrs. Clarice, the very first thought that comes into my mind is her spirit of hospitality. How joyfully she invites people to her home, how varieties of dishes she prepares and how kindly she serves people!

And what a blessing she is to women, particularly to young girls! Many of them would testify of how often they have been invited to her house and how gladly she served them good food, cared for them and discipled them.

Now you need to know she is not that young and energetic to manifest such hospitality. She is 65 years old and still serves people with great enthusiasm. My family had been to her house many times and we can admit of being blessed by her love and hospitality, both in our body and spirit.

Do we find the young women of our day having that heart and patience to serve people?

A Woman of Encouragement: Another character I can think of Mrs. Clarice is her spirit of encouragement. She is not only an encouragement to those outside but also to her own family. Since her husband, Mr. Joy David, is a missionary, traveling to various places and ministering to people, she took time to teach and encourage her children to walk in the ways of God. Her labor in the grace of God has reaped life-changing results in her children. Today, they all love the Lord and have blessed families.

How many women do we observe these days who are deeply devoted to pray and bring up their children in the fear of God?

Let me point out that Mrs. Clarice is not a preacher or teacher. She is a simple house wife. But she is a great encouragement to her husband. What a delight to watch her encouraging her husband in prayer, in evangelism and in ministry to people! Her presence is such an encouragement to people that Mr. Joy David himself testifies that when they go together for ministry, people crowd her more than him.

O, how many husbands lack such encouraging wives and what great things they might have achieved had they had such encouragement from their wives!

I think, Mr. Joy David would not hesitate for a moment to confess—had it not been for her support and encouragement, which is God’s gracious providence to him, it would have been quite hard for his ministry to have had a wider influence on people.

A Woman who loves Jesus: I know Mrs. Clarice is what she is only because of Jesus who saved her. And because He loves her, she loves her Lord passionately. Because she has tasted the goodness of the Lord, she manifests that goodness to others. People are touched by her life because she is in constant touch with her heavenly Father.

Anyone who comes in contact with her will not take long to see her burning heart for God. Her passion for Jesus is quite noticeable.

She loves to talk with her Lord, even standing in the gap and interceding for people. She loves to hear her Lord through His unchanging Word. She loves worshiping her Savior. In this short life lived on earth, she loves to live a fruitful life for the glory of God. And because she has consecrated herself to the Lord, she has been a blessing to many people.

In my talk with Mr. Joy David, I candidly asked him, “Uncle, did you ever regret in your marital life about not getting a better wife, wishing in your heart for a better woman?” He replied that in their 38 years of life together, he never regretted for marrying Mrs. Clarice and never thought, “I wish I had a better wife.” 

What a blessed testimony! But this does not mean she is a perfect woman, expressed Mr. Joy David, and desired for her to constantly improve her godly qualities.

Finally, because of her rich experience in the Lord and godly example, I suppose, a woman would be richly benefited to read and apply the principles Mrs. Clarice shares in her book “More Precious Than Jewels.”

“More Precious Than Jewels” is published by Authentic Books and can be ordered online at a very low price: http://christianstore.in/product.php?productid=20868&cat=0&hm=BK

You may also write to the following e-mail address for a copy:

cstephendavid@gmail.com (or) stephen@tents-india.org