What do I see in the mirror?

 The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’ ” Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. (Exodus 33:1–6)

This leads to some NT verses that are very controversial. Therefore, instead of getting into a topic that theologians cannot agree on, I’m taking a big picture look at this and how to apply it.

An ornament is something worn to make myself look good. It is usually small and useless, like earrings or rings, yet some ornaments are large and showy. Either way, they are about drawing attention to me. I’ve worn a cross-shaped necklace to remind me of Jesus, but most people think of it as mere jewelry. At times, so do I.

In this OT passage, the ornaments are literal, as they are in the following NT passages, but when I read them, I think of little or big things I might do to make myself look good, to put the focus on me. It isn’t usual visual like an ornament.

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. (1 Timothy 2:8–11)

That s-word can be a distraction as many think it suggests ‘doormat’ but in my mind it means being yielded to God, trusting Him with whatever He wants me to learn or do. As I visit with my female friends, many of us agree that we are far more easily led astray by news, gossip, and all sorts of false information Eve was the gullible one in Eden. She didn’t listen to God.

Behind that tendency to listen to false appeals can be a desire to look good, to wear an ornament that makes us more attractive, or so we think.

Not only that, I’ve learned after years of trying ornaments that being yielded to God has a practical purpose. He connects it to how women can affect a hubby that is not yielded to God:

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 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. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. (1 Peter 3:1–6)

A large part of beauty is not about externals and certainly not about ornaments. I know more than one woman whose home and personal appearance is like photos in an expensive magazine, but they are mean-spirited and unpleasant. God’s priority is to drop the externals and focus on being like Jesus.

Lord, this gives me lots to think about. I dress so my colors work nicely together, but does my mouth or my thoughts match Your heart? What do I wear to impress others yet beneath it wear a stubborn, have-my-own-way attitude? Am I real and the same outside as inside, or is the impression I give others only costume jewelry? You would not let Your people wear ornaments because it was evidence of a serious problem of being stiff-necked — meaning stubborn, obstinate and pig-headed. I do not want to ever see that image in the mirror. Enable me to always behave so that Your image is reflected back to them, not just the outer one but also from the heart.