What is my adornment?

Part of what encouraged me to make my own blog page was reading some other really wonderful pages from some very godly women. One of the blogs I read at least a couple times per week is "The Purple Cellar" written by Lydia Brownback and Jennifer Redman. Lydia has written a great little book entitled, Fine China is For Single Women Too. When I came across this recent post of hers on the blog, I had to paste it in and share it with my friends. I was cut to the heart when I read this, as I am exactly as she describes - often preoccupied with appearance and "bettering" myself. This is a slicing reminder of Paul's admonishment in I Timothy 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". As I thought on this passage and read Lydia's post, I was encouraged that we must not focus so much on whether this verse specifically forbids certain types of clothing or accessorizing, but more on the heart motive behind it. And I must humbly confess that my motives are often tainted by a sinful wish for attention and reinforcement that I fit in with modern society. The thing is, I don't want to fit in with modern society, because if that is my standard, then I am in serious trouble! Where is my self-control? Where is my professed godliness and good works? If those are not the things that are first noticed when someone interacts with me, then I am failing to glorify God! I should feel out of place, I am a "resident alien" in this world. On that note, I wanted to share Lydia's post, as I could not possibly say it better than her:
"Narcissism--we're all guilty to one degree or another. It's part of being human. It's part of being American.Our narcissism is exposed in our obsessive thoughts about our weight. Retailers have taken our obsession straight to the bank with today's vanity sizes. Yesterday's 10 is today's 6.It's exposed in the nail salons and the tanning booths that bookend every strip mall in the country.It's exposed in our $150-every-eight-weeks hairstyles.It's exposed in how easily duped we are by the promise of expensive cellulite vanishing cream.Our self-obsession hasn't made us a happier nation over all. Our French tips and all-over tans have done nothing to diminish the number of anti-depressant prescriptions sliding across pharmacy counters everyday. That's because the glances of admiration and envy we get for wearing single-digit sizes provides only a quick and shallow fix.Narcissim is even more prevalent with our claims and possessions: My happiness, my goals, my desires, my rights, my family, my schedule. Me, my, I--it's what we live for. Self involvement breeds more self-involvement because it all just seems so normal. Think about the conversations we have around the water cooler or in the parking lot:"Do you think I've lost weight?""Well, now that you mention it, you do look a bit thinner--not that you needed to lose anything. I'm the one who could stand to take off a couple.""You? Don't be silly. Your still wearing a size 4, aren't you? What's the problem?"Well, actually, I'm a 2 now. But I've only been able to get to the gym three times a week lately, so I've been worried about my weight."Can we imagine holding a conversation like that in front of a missionary from our church who spends fifty weeks a year in tribal India? For that matter, can we imagine walking up to anyone we really respect and admire and asking, "Does this outfit make me look fat?""Of course not!" you protest, "Those conversations are personal and private!"No they're not. They're just stupid.Wouldn't it be glorifying to God, and utterly freeing to us, if we made a pact to help one another recover from our narcissistic tendencies rather than remaining narcissism enablers? Come on . . . we can do it."