Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry of fine clothes. Rather, 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. 1 PETER 3:3, 4, NIV
For a long time, American citizens were not allowed to travel to Cuba. Eventually an arrangement was made so that people could travel there to visit immediate family or go on a mission trip. Occasionally I work with Your Story hour and their Spanish division, Tu Historia Preferida, which oversees the production and distribution to Spanish-speaking countries. A few years back, a handful of us got permission to go to Cuba to connect with kids and leaders, but getting there was still complicated. At the time there were no direct flights from the United States to Cuba, even though the bottom tip of Florida is only ninety miles from Cuba.
First, we drove from Michigan to Chicago, where we took a flight to Miami. Once in Miami, we were to fly to Nassau, Bahamas, change planes and take a flight to Cuba. At the airport there were complications, and our flight was canceled. They worked to figure out how to get us there, and the only solution was to put us on a flight to Cancun, Mexico, and then to Cuba. However, when we got to Cancun, we were stuck. The flight from Mexico to Cuba wouldn’t leave till the next day; even worse, half of our luggage didn’t arrive in Cancun. The following day we flew to Cuba hoping the rest of our luggage would catch up- but it never arrived. Those of us who had extra clothes were happy to share with those who didn’t, because there were no stores in Cuba to buy clothes!
Clothing can be a big deal for people in North America. Malls and stores sell billions of dollars of clothing each year. What should Christians wear?
The Bible only provides a few simple principles for us to follow. Our verse today clearly says what is most important to God.