To All the Ladies

This morning, pulling my hair back into a wet braid, I couldn't help but recall a certain verse that goes a little something like this:

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."
- 1 Peter 3:3-4

Braided hair?! Ah! Does this make me a girl of questionable modesty? If that's where I place my worth, or my hope for acceptance, or how I manipulate others into approving me; then, well, yes-- it does.

But let's also consider the time and culture in which our verse was written:
"Historical sources indicate that in that era, it frequently was the case that women would braid their hair high atop their heads, having it intertwined with jewels, etc. It was a showcase—so elaborate as to be a sensation. One certainly may array himself or herself with pride and dignity, but to dress so as to flaunt the physical is not consistent with the will of Christ... What he is prohibiting is that excess which would detract from the woman’s spiritual charms." (Thank you, Christian Courier.)

Here is the verse in another version:

"Your adornment must not be merely external--braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God." (NASB)

"What matters is not your outer appearance—the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes—but your inner disposition. Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in." (The Message)

Disposition, here, is both a temperament and a posture -- say we always directed both our attitudes and actions according to what would bring pleasure to God.
Say we didn't just say it, but did it.
This is what we should aim for. In doing this we give the greatest satisfaction to the one who allows us to feel satisfied, we are able to promote the sort of beauty that he created beauty for in the first place.

Shallow isn't very becoming, at least not for very long. It does a good job of wearing the beauty of everything around it and passing it off as its own, but in no time you begin to see right through it. Depth, however, both fosters and requires more intentionality; mostly in the careful preservation and seeking out of all it has to offer....

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
- 2 Corinthians 4:18
Our eyes, our attitudes, our actions...

So do braids and dresses and scarves and those matching earrings make us hoochies? Not at all, but they don't make us beautiful, either.