What is wrong with braided hair?

Both Peter and Paul used words against braided hair. Why?

1 Timothy 2:9
I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,

1 Peter 3:3-4
3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4 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.

The point isn't that braided hair is sinful. The point is that true beauty is in the inner self. Both passages are speaking against being obsessed with outer appearance.

Our culture doesn't just promote outer beauty, it promotes impossible beauty. Every time you go to the store we see stacks of magazines with pictures of models on the cover. But the story doesn't end there. Having models isn't enough for these magazines. After taking their pictures, they spend thousands of dollars to retouch the photos.

Consider this quote from super-model Cindy Crawford.

"I think women see me on the cover of magazines and think that I never have a pimple or bags under my eyes. You have to realize that's after two hours of hair and makeup, plus retouching. Even I don't wake up looking like Cindy Crawford."
- Cindy Crawford

Actress Kate Winslet possed for a photoshoot and was furious when the magazine photoshopped her pictures (finally an actress not obsessed with external beauty). This is what the magazine editor said the image was, "highly styled, buffed, trimmed and altered... to make the subject look as good as humanly possible."

As good as is humanly possible? That's the standards our girls are competing with? These ridiculous standards cause girls to strive for an impossible standard. The pressure to be skinny pushes girls into eating disorders. Clearly we're focusing on all the wrong things.

The writings of Peter and Paul aren't against braiding hair, they're against obsession with looks. They're writing a message which is completely contrary to everything our culture says. They challenge us to look to inner character rather than outer beauty.

What is wrong with braided hair? Nothing. The problem is with valuing looks over character.

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