“Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”
— 1 Peter 3:3‐4 (KJV)
I always say that one of the dangers of misinterpreting texts is not just that it promotes falsehood, but that it keeps God’s people from being blessed by the original truth being communicated by the text. One such case is in our anchor text for today. For a long time, some people interpreted the passage to mean that believers should not wear jewelry. This hyperlegalism led to many hypocrites who commit various evil acts but are convinced of their righteousness because they don’t wear jewelry.
When we take a close look at the text, we see that there’s an important word that is often overlooked—“adorning.” The Apostle was explaining that believers should not find their value in their outward appearance but in their inward state. This is the deeper point that a lot of people miss. If he were saying believers should not wear jewelry, then he would also be saying believers should not wear clothes, because he mentioned the “putting on of apparel.”
So, of course, that would not be correct, as he is not saying we should not wear clothes. Rather, he wants us to place greater value on inward virtues. As believers, our beauty and value must come first from within. Let us prize the beauty of the inward man above that of the outward man. Let us value jewelry for the inward man—jewelry like meekness, humility, love, kindness, self-control, etc. These things are of great value in the sight of God. This is the kind of stuff that God loves. We should not care more about our outward adornment more than the inward. This does not mean we don’t pay attention to the outward appearance at all, but it means we should find our greater worth in what is inward.
Prayer
Help me, Lord, to find my value in the inward man, not in outward material things. Help me to wear the fruit of the Spirit as an adornment for my inward man.
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