Someone told me, “Nanay kaayo ka tan-awon.”
(I can tell sure enough that that referred to the garments I
am on, also that I look older and worn out)
I responded, “Of course, nanay na bitaw ko!”
Today, as I take a glimpse of myself at the mirror I know
for sure that motherhood added a couple of years to my features.
I look a lot older than my age, from my wrinkly face to my
double chin to my undesirable waist line to my entire plump figure (fair enough
to say, overweight, tsk tsk).
I admit, at times, my appearance gives me that gloomy
feeling. I also wish to have that hourglass-like figure. I also dreamed of
wearing those trendy outfits but that’s just about that.
Uh huh! I wear “nanay-ish” clothes even supposing I could
wear the latest trend in town. I choose to do so, even if the world would call that
old-fashioned, old shool, old-style, or whatever old.
For what reason?
1.
I believe that my body is not my own. It’s my Master’s.
(Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy
Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.
– 1 Cor. 6:19) I was made to glorify God and not myself so I need not draw
others’ attention towards me.
2.
I vowed to the Lord and upon witnesses and to
the man God gave me. I believe that a wife is only for her husband and the
husband for his wife alone, especially his/her own body. NOT AT ALL necessary
to flaunt to others. ( The wife does not have
authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the
husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife.
– 1 Cor. 7:4)
3.
I
consider MODESTY as the hottest trend of all time. Like how Mr. Jarid Wilson
stated in his article “4 REASONS BEING MODEST IS THE HOTEST.”
How you dress up somehow defines you. (I also want the women
to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with
elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship
God. – 1 Timothy 2:9-10)
And, needless to say, shabbiness is another story.
4.
I know for sure that true beauty is beyond the
outer shell, beyond the world’s standard of it. (Charm is deceitful, and beauty
is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be
praised. – Proverbs 31:30). Whether you’re innately beautiful, synthetically
beautiful, digitally beautiful, or uniquely beautiful, learn by heart that
everything the mirror says is momentary. True lasting beauty is of your inner
self – a heart after God. (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 3:4)
5.
I want to specially emphasize outfit
appropriateness. We all want to look our best and be the best that we can be.
But let me ask you, do you want to wear a bikini at a formal gathering? That
say, we can always flaunt, but please oh please, appropriately. This case is very crucial to me because I am
very much saddened by the fact that, more often than not, many people are very
cautious of what to wear during a job interview, or in a formal gathering, or
at the prom but not mindful of the way they dress up at church. One would surely feel awkward to face the
president, or the mayor or the company boss or the principal or whoever
authorities while wearing scanty garments. Doesn’t the Most High deserve the
highest reverence?! (You were bought at a price. Therefore
honor God with your bodies. – 1 Cor. 6:20) Drawing others’ attention to
ourselves, which every so often causes them to sin, is NEVER necessary. We
ought to focus on glorifying God. Oh come on, we spend so much on other things
thus making excuses unacceptable not to have a single set of appropriate church
attire.
Being prim and proper never hurts me at all, even if
sometimes the world tells me that I’m boring and unattractive. I desire to be a
woman after God’s own heart. And praise God for the blessing of having a
husband who’s happy of a wife that’s not flaunty. We all have different points
of view, I know, but the Word of God is fundamental and timeless. It is never
old-fashioned nor inappropriate!
