6 Ways Gray Hairs Become a “Crown of Glory”

The older we get the more our bodies ache in new places. We need readers to see anything up close. And gray hairs start taking over. But the alternative to growing old is … well … let’s just say it’s better to grow old.

There are a lot of good things that come with growing older. Grandchildren being one of the best things, for sure. But we learn a lot in life and that’s beneficial to have in our old age.

It’s been said wisdom comes with age and I believe that’s mostly true. But some of us don’t mature in a lot of ways even though we’ve grown older in years.

The truth is growing older and wiser involves some work. It doesn’t necessarily come naturally.

It’s understandable why some may avoid the work of maturity. It’s hard. It’s easier to complain instead of finding the good in a situation. It’s easier to be pessimistic than to be positive about life despite our disappointments. It’s just easier not to grow up when we’re growing old. 

But don’t we hope to grow old gracefully in all areas of life?

In Scripture, we see how a crown of glory or splendor is attained.

Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness. Proverbs 16:31

The key is not age. It’s righteousness.

We become worthy of the Crown of Glory when we’ve grown like Jesus. He’s the one making us right with God. We’re incapable of this on our own. Without the Holy Spirit working within us, we’re destined to stay stunted in many ways and will remain immature even though our bodies age.

Growing older is a beautiful thing when we become more like Christ as we age. All glory and splendor developed within us is from God.

Here are 6 ways gray hair becomes a ‘crown of glory’ in the Bible.

1. Wisdom is seeking God.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

When we seek God, we will find Him. He’s not hiding. The evidence of Him is everywhere we look. Nature points to Him if we are willing to seek Him there.

Wisdom is seeking God on our own. Not because our parents told us so. Or our church told us so. But because we want to know the truth. We want to know Him.

We will become wise when we seek Him for ourselves because we will find Him. We’ll be drawn into a beautiful relationship through Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.

2. Wisdom is knowing Jesus makes us right with God.

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:22-24

Placing our trust in Jesus Christ and His work done on our behalf on the cross is how we can be made right with God. Believing He died for us and was resurrected. Surrendering every area of our lives to Him in obedience.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7

Then, some work begins.

We continue to live our lives in Him. We’re rooted and built up in Him. We’re strengthened in our faith, and we overflow with thankfulness.

3. Wisdom is knowing God is in control.

For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us. Isaiah 33:22

God is large and in charge.

When we understand this and place everything in His powerful hands, we’ve grown up a bit spiritually. We know He’s the judge, lawgiver, and king. We know He loves us enough to make a way for us to have a right relationship with Him again through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for mankind.

When we understand the depth of what He’s done for us and how much we don’t deserve it, we fall into obedience out of gratefulness, and that’s the best place to be.

4. Wisdom is when God teaches us.

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

We can become wise when God teaches us.

In our surrender to God, there’s an indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We will gain insight we never could have gotten any other way. The longer we live accompanied by the Holy Spirit, the wiser we become because He’s teaching us, correcting our wrong thinking, and giving us God’s perspective.

When we ask Him to teach us, He will. And we will gain a heart of wisdom with those gray hairs.

5. Wisdom is following God’s path.

Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen. Psalm 77:19 NIV

We grow wise by following God’s lead through life.

Often, what we think is the right thing to do or place to go is not what God has in mind for us. The way He leads us may seem crazy. He knows the best way to go even though the way is through a raging river. We think we need to find a big boat and float across. But God opens the river and leads us through.

He knows what He’s doing even though we see a big obstacle in the way. We must trust His path even when it doesn’t make sense. Maybe it’s not logical. Maybe we sprout a few more gray hairs as we follow His path.

When we get through it, our trust grows even stronger. His way for us will always be the best option. Though the ‘through’ is sometimes hard.

He’s with us even though we don’t see His footprints.

6. Wisdom is trusting in testing.

See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. Isaiah 48:10

We say our rebellious children have given us our gray hair. The joy far outweighs the grief of raising children, but sometimes, it’s downright stressful. Not only is our hair turning gray, but we may want to pull half of it out.

But truth be told, God’s refining process may contribute to some of our hair color changes as we age. He uses the furnace of affliction. Yikes.

Affliction means suffering or pain, and refined means to remove impurities or unwanted elements. Basically, God removes unwanted elements in our lives by allowing suffering or pain as a test – a trust test.

When we’ve gone through God’s testing, some gray hairs are bound to sprout. But they will be a crown of splendor if we continue trusting Him in hardships. 

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. Isaiah 46:4

Thank goodness God never leaves us.

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Wavebreakmedia 

Melinda Eye Cooper grew up in the Missouri Ozarks but lives near Nashville, Tennessee with her family.  She writes articles and devotions and has some fiction projects in the works. Melinda grew up in a large family and is number seven of ten children. Many of her devotions and stories are inspired from her childhood. 

Melinda has been honored to be a Selah Awards finalist for online articles and was a finalist for the 2023 Writer of the Year Award with Serious Writer as well as a 2024 Semi-finalist for the ACFW Genesis Contest. 

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Her book of articles and devotions is available here.