by David Maxson<\/p>\n
“Now in all Israel there was no one so much to be praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish on him<\/em>“(II Samuel 14:25).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
How much stock do you put into appearance?<\/p>\n
To some, it’s the first (and only) thing they see, especially when looking for a mate. For them, Absalom would stand out as a good catch. He was wealthy, powerful, good-looking, and apparently a smooth talker (see II Samuel 15:1-6).<\/p>\n
But you wouldn’t want to date a man like Absalom. He was a rebellious, vengeful, murderous, lying, manipulating, prideful, power-hungry young man whose lack of character ultimately led to his own premature death.<\/p>\n
So to all the singles out there looking for a husband or wife, I encourage you to be discriminating and careful about who you date. Don’t be deceived by externals. A good marriage is built on a common faith in God and solid character. A marriage built on appearance alone is doomed to fail.<\/p>\n
Father, please give wisdom and discernment to our singles who are looking for a mate!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by David Maxson “Now in all Israel there was no one so much to be praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish on him“(II Samuel 14:25). How much stock do you put into appearance? To some, it’s the first…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[149],"class_list":["post-58888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-dating"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":30279,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-absalom-have-sons-or-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":58888,"position":0},"title":"Did Absalom have sons or not?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I am just wondering why there's a discrepancy in what II Samuel says about Absalom.\u00a0 In II Samuel 14:27 it says that Absalom has three sons and a daughter, but in II Samuel 18:18 it says that Absalom erected a monument for himself because he thought he has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37225,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/absalom\/","url_meta":{"origin":58888,"position":1},"title":"Absalom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andrew Long","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69219,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/grooming-hearts\/","url_meta":{"origin":58888,"position":2},"title":"Grooming Hearts","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bryant Bailles For whatever it may be worth: On the matter of grooming attitudes, unfairly generalizing brethren, and creating an imaginary group to despise... \"And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way to the gate; and when any man had a case to come to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61814,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-return-of-the-king\/","url_meta":{"origin":58888,"position":3},"title":"The Return of the King","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Samuel 19:15-39 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0King David\u2019s son, Absalom, had lead a successful revolt against the king \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0David had to flee for his life - II Samuel 15:13-14 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was a time of great confusion as people did not know who would eventually succeed. Loyalties became\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15793,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-were-the-wives-who-gave-birth-to-davids-sons-and-in-which-order-were-they-born\/","url_meta":{"origin":58888,"position":4},"title":"Who were the wives who gave birth to David’s sons and in which order were they born?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Who were the wives of King David who gave birth to Amnon, Absalom, Killiam, and Adonijah? I am guessing, but it seems as if Amnon was the first, Absalom second, Killiam, and then Adonijah. Adonijah being the last before Solomon because he had the right to the throne before\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28295,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-son-told-me-of-his-sins-just-before-a-car-accident-that-looks-like-it-will-be-fatal-what-can-i-do-for-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":58888,"position":5},"title":"My son told me of his sins just before a car accident that looks like it will be fatal. What can I do for him?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a father and my youngest, who just turned 16, has been in a car accident. He is in a coma, and the doctors tell me there is a very real probability he won't come out. He is showing little brain activity and his organs have begun to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58888\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}