“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.” (1 Peter 3:3-4)
Just a short
update on something new I’m doing:
Some
of the most beautiful women I know are also the most simple women I know. They’re not distracted by the flashiness of
the latest trend and are content in the things that the Lord has given
them. I feel like I used to be much more
content and simple in how I dressed, but for some reason over the last 8 months
I have caught myself spending unnecessarily on clothes or jewelry that I don’t
need to keep up with the latest trend.
I
was talking to someone a few months ago about how we use our money, and one of
the points in our conversation I said, “money can be a great indicator of what
our idols are. Where you invest the
majority of the free money you have, that probably shows what you value the
most.” And as soon as I said that I felt
incredibly guilty, because without realizing it I had awoken to the realization
that an idol in my life had taken root, and it came in the form of clothing and
materialism. It came on slowly and
quietly, and before I knew it I looked at my closet and didn’t have anywhere to
put my newest shirt or my latest pair of shoes.
I felt pretty pathetic; since when did I care so much about looking nice
that I was willing to spend the majority of my money on it? It kind of felt
like my wake up call. So I spent a
little time praying about this, and this is how my conversation (in my mind)
went:
Lord,
I know I spend a lot of money on clothes, but is that really wrong? I just like
looking nice!
“Do not love the world or the things in
the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in
him.”
But God, I don’t
love the world! I like getting compliments on what I wear!
“For [are you]
now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or [are you] trying to please man?
If [you] were still trying to please man, [you] would not be a servant of
Christ.”
So Lord, are you
saying that it is wrong for me to buy new clothes period? What exactly is it that you are wanting me to
get from this??
“Charm
is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be
praised.”
Well dang.
So, in an effort
to dethrone the idols of my life, I made a New Year’s Resolution. I never make them, but this year I made one
that I plan on fighting to keep. I am
not purchasing any clothing until at least August 17th, (the day
before my birthday), but there is a chance I might take this through the entire
year. This includes not only clothing, but also shoes and jewelry of any kind. So far, I’ve made it a little over
a month, and I’m already experiencing a lot more of Jesus as I find that the
things he has blessed me with are more than enough. It’s going to be really hard for me; my
roommates have been holding me accountable and I think that they will see my
war with materialism hit many highs and lows.
But, I know in my heart that Jesus is a far greater treasure than anything
money could buy me. I want more of
Him. And I am really excited how he will
use this period of time to transform and incline my heart further toward him.
Katlyn
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