I recently put stick on nails, they looked so good up until when they started coming off one by one. It was during one of the sessions we had at a church camp I attended that two of the nails came off. So in between a powerful preaching on giving all I could think of is getting the super glue I had in my bag and step out to stick back the nails. So I stepped out and after looking around to see is the coast was clear I started the delicate procedure of sticking back the nails only for one of my friends to approach me to ask what I was up to. I was so embarrassed, that was when it hit me how much I valued having these nails, so much that I would walk out of such a session.
As women we tend at times to put so much value in the clothes we wear, the bags we carry, the kind of hair we have....basically we value how we look. Do not get me wrong, a woman has to look good but how much value do we put in these things? Do we value and identify ourselves with the number of designer bags we have, the price of the human hair we have? The type of shoes we can afford? It is so easy as women to put our value in all these things and easily forget to nourish the inner woman. I valued my nails so much to the extent of forgoing a session that would have taught me the importance of giving.
1 Peter 3:3-4: Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.
Proverbs 3:15: She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.
2Corithians 4:16: So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
When the bible talks of letting the adorning be the hidden person of the heart, it points out that our inner beauty is more important than the beauty we have on the outside. We tend to focus so much on the physical we tend to forget the inner person who is meant to be gentle and kind to others. How many times have you met a pretty woman and when she opens up her mouth to speak all the beauty she has dissapears?
The world nowadays tells women to be"sassy and classy" meaning you should be disrespectful, mouthy, rude or mean and play by your own rules (sassy) and to add to that you should be stylish carrying the latest designer bag, wearing the latest fashion and not to forget the shoes to match with it (classy)
Again do not get me wrong...a woman has to look good I am not advocating for women to start walking around care free claiming they are beautiful on the inside even though they do not make effort on the outside to make anyone interested in finding out the inner beauty they have. But when did our identity as women dwindle down to just our physical appearance?
I am intending to show women that their value and identity should not come from the clothes they wear, the bags they carry, the shoes they wear but their value and identity should be found in Christ.
When our identity is found in Christ then we would not have to borrow money so as to keep up with the latest fashion and socialites, we would still believe we are beautiful even when we go through the day without anyone complimenting us, we would not jeopardize our values for our looks. We would be so secure in our skin that we would not have to let the world define beauty for us, we would be all that God has called us to be.
In Christ you are a stunning beauty to die for, you are an unaffordable jewel....don't you forget that.
With Lots of love
Enid Nzisa
