Gboyega Adedeji: Just thinking about it. For a woman, what is the most desirable? Does a woman think from the context of impressing a man or impressing God? Do you think an average woman wants to start her day telling herself: “The way I want to look today; I want to look good to God or the way I want to look today, I want to look good to impress my husband or to impress some guys around me. What do you think is the most important consideration for a woman and perhaps also for a man when such a person wants to start his or her day. Does such a person start with, “I want to impress a man, I want to impress a woman. I want him to love me more. I want him to perceive me correctly, so, I will use something expensive, something beautiful. I will actually make sure my hair is coyly and I am looking good. Do you think that is the most important consideration of a woman or a man that wakes up that wants to appear in the day? Or do you think an average person wants to start the day thinking within himself or herself: How can I look good to God? How can I make God happy? How can I impress God with how I appear?
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: I believe that everyone dresses intentionally, especially women. For men, it could be that they just pick up a shirt and pick up a trouser and dress according to the desire of their heart or where they are going to.
Gboyega Adedeji: Or we could say according to their mood.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Exactly! According to their mood. But most women dress intentionally. So, you will find that when a woman is dressing or decides to put on a dress, goes out or is getting ready for an occasion, you will see that everything she puts on from our hair to her slippers is intentional. The colors are intentional, the kind of clothes, they are intentional, the earrings, and everything. You will find that women actually wear to match better than men, because they are intentional. Just to show the intentionality of a woman.
Gboyega Adedeji: The issue now is: do they get intentional about the appearance because they want God to be impressed? Or they want somebody somewhere to be impressed. Is it about God or about other people around them?
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: You know Bible says that God weighs the intention of everybody's heart. So, you can be acting, or you can be living your life as it were, but your intentions are being weighed by God. And that's why today, the Scripture we'll be focusing on will help us understand what we should be intentional about. As we step out each day, as we meet with people as we live our lives, what should be our focus?
Gboyega Adedeji: What should we give our attention to?
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Yes.
Gboyega Adedeji: All right. I believe it's important we start in this video on a very good note. So, let's go to the book of First Peter chapter 3 and we'll read from verse 3-4. The Bible says: “Do not let your adornment be merely outward, arranging the hair, wearing gold or putting on fine apparel, rather let it be the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.”
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Wow! This has helped us to actually see what we should focus on. Number one he said in verse 3: “Do not let your adornment meaning that it is important for us to be adorned. So, it is not wrong to arrange your hair, it is not wrong to wear gold, it is not wrong for you to wear a fine apparel. God does not want you to look haggard and as though you are a beggar. No! He doesn't want that. What he's saying is that it should not be merely, meaning that God is saying don't pay attention solely or completely. You should not focus on this and leave the main thing. You should not major on the minor and minor on the major. So, it's telling you arranging your hair, wearing of gold, as beautiful as it could be; that you are adorning yourself, shouldn’t be our preoccupation.
Gboyega Adedeji: You know, it's possible for somebody to start out in the morning and the only thing you are thinking about that day is how you appear. How do I look? How am I perceived? And you stand in front of the mirror for 30 minutes, and you're still looking at yourself, you are thinking about the pimples on your face, you are thinking about how you are not fair enough, you are thinking about all that. And you set out eventually in the morning and the only thing in your mind is how you look and how you want people to see you. You are just self-conscious. That is a man or a woman that is concerned and merely outwardly. The only thing that impresses you is how you appear before people. And apostle Peter was also trying to also advise, don't make this the only thing you do. As much as you give time to all these, give time to something else also.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Yeah. There is something that is more important and he called it precious in the sight of God. And that's why in verse 4, it says: rather… In other words, don’t merely give yourself to this. Rather, this is a weightier matter. This is more important and you should focus on it. Rather, let it be the hidden person. This is the adornment that you should have. The adornment that you should be conscious about and carry the consciousness with you, every day, is the hidden Person of the heart.
Gboyega Adedeji: You know, a particular thought came to my heart and it will help us to really understand this. You know, when we dress every day in the morning or whenever we dress, there are two important things: the state of the body, and then, the clothes, the garments that we put on. Is it possible for us not to take our baths, not to wash ourselves, not to clean up our bodies, and then we wear some expensive clothing? Now, as ridiculous as that could be, that is how we also do when all we do is to look good physically. But the hidden Person of the heart that people cannot see is left unattended to.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Yes. It's not adorned
Gboyega Adedeji: Yes! We will then become like white-washed tombs. Why it's important to look good, we must not abandon something else about us that people cannot see immediately. But do you also realize that whether people can see your heart immediately or not, ultimately, what people love eventually about us is the state of our heart. Do we have the right heart? Do we have the good heart? And imagine when we wake up every day and the last thing, we want to think about is the state of our heart and we want to focus on: how do we look? How do I look better? How do I dress? How can I dress better? We neglect the heart and so we don't build up that personality that God loves, that gentle and quiet spirit doesn't fall on anybody like ripe pawpaw. It is built.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: And see what the Bible talks about. He said: It has incorruptible beauty! Meaning that if you spend all your time to wear a good hair, wear fine accessories and wear a fine apparel, they are all corruptible, they will wear out, they will go out of fashion. They will become things that eventually will end up in the junkyard.
Gboyega Adedeji: You remember there is no amount of powder that you will use that will last you for days, you will have to wash it off.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: But when we talk about this hidden person of the heart, this gentle and quiet spirit, the Bible qualifies it as incorruptible beauty. It's a beauty that is unfading. It is long-lasting. It will always be there when you wear it. When you are adorned with it.
Gboyega Adedeji: This is what they say: come rain, come sunshine, it is there.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: So, why not focus on that? What is temporal will pass away. But this we're talking about today is something that is permanent, something that would just be there for you, every time and whenever you need it. You see people can often not describe you with the color of clothe that you wear. Because yesterday, you ore yellow, today, you wore blue. But if you are a bad person, it sticks. It becomes a stigma. They will say: That man, that wicked man! It is not about the clothe you are wearing; it is about the heart that you have. The hidden person of the heart has been so adorned with wickedness and it becomes evidence everywhere. Everybody knows you by that name. That's why we must give attention to something else, not just our clothing, not just our appearance in the body, we must also be conscious of our spiritual appearance.
Gboyega Adedeji: You know, the last thing in my mind I really want to talk about before we go, you know, why do people look good? Why do people spend time looking good daily? Is it not to endear themselves towards people, because they want to be attractable to people, they want to be complimented, they want people to love them, like them, be fun of them, like them, accept them, mingle with them, be comfortable with them. So, that is why we use perfume, we use all manner of things. We want people to love us. Now, as good as those things could be to us, they don't produce lasting again, results. If you want favor, and you look good, but your temperament is horrible and terrible; you talk loudly and you're arrogant. You are not patient; you are not gentle in your spirit. You are very arrogant, you are very violent, you are abusive. No matter how you paint your mouth, no matter the gold you put on, no matter the cost of your hair, people will not love you.
So, while we are spending so much to package our bodies, if we can give some time to our hearts, we can really become people-persons, we can become loving to people. We can enjoy favor, we can enjoy love, the very thing we are looking for.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: And it's important we speak to this because the amount of money and time that we use in looking good for somebody's compliment, which sometimes does not come, this is why you must give attention to the hidden person of the heart that would make souls to turn, that would make lives and destinies around, that would help people find God. It would turn also relationships around. It would make people to see that aura of God around when you come around. And imagine everybody, you know, having that to say about you. See, you're not just touching their eyes, you're touching their hearts.
Gboyega Adedeji: Guess what? Again, I've come to realize that when we dress so much, so well in order to look good. It's about our selfish interest. But when we have the right heart, a good heart, a heart that is gentle and peaceful, the Bible calls it quiet and gentle heart. When we have it. It's not about ourselves. It's about the people, your heart, the state of your heart, when it is good. It is for the people. That is where you come out of yourself. You come into other people and you are beginning to think about other people. You don't want to hurt people's feelings. So, you don't insult people, you don't look down on people. This talks about the state of your heart, it is not for you. It's for the people.
When you speak well of people, you speak good around people, you don't insult, assaults, you don't do all manner of bad things. It's not for yourself. Primarily, it's for people. But when you look good and you wear those expensive clothes, it is for yourself.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: It will make you a taker because you want to take the compliment. You want to take the attention; you want to take it all. But when you're not focused on all that, you are focusing on your spirit, you become a giver, you find that you're the one that is giving the compliment. You're the one that is giving that word of inspiration. You're the one giving that word of encouragement, you're the one giving out of yourself.
Gboyega Adedeji: And that is what everyone is looking for. We're not looking for somebody that wants to catch our attention. Like no matter how we are focused, once she comes around or he comes, we are distracted, we're confused. We don't know what to do. Everyone is looking at him. Everybody's looking at her. Wow. And it is not more than that. It's all about people giving you something from themselves. But when you have a good heart, it's about how you are able to reach out to people, how you able to help people, how you able to make people feel better about themselves. It's very important. It's very important.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: It's very important. So, I believe that you have gleaned wisdom today that as beautiful as your fine apparel, your gold and the arranging of your hair and looking good on the outside is, much more important is the hidden person of the heart. Who are you in your heart will be the identity of your heart. And I know that if we give ourselves only to this counsel, our profiting will be evident to all.
Gboyega Adedeji: Alright, so much has been shared with us today. It's been a great time sharing our time with everyone out there watching. I'm sure we're ready to work with these words, we're ready to build our lives on them. We don't want to be self-centered. We don't want to be self-oriented. We don't want to be people that are so concerned and preoccupied with ourselves that we begin to say, “I don't look good enough. I'm too short. I'm too tall. I'm too dark. I'm too fat.” You don't look about all that. And you don't look too much into all that. You give your attention to the state of your heart. The Bible says that is what is precious to God. Even God said to Samuel concerning the family of Jesse.
God does not look the way man looks. Man looks at the outward appearance, how people are packaged. But God looks at the heart. If you want God to be pleased with you, no matter your condition, no matter your height and status in life, don’t give too much attention to the things that people see. Give attention to what people don't see, that influences what they see around your life. And as you invest your time, as you invest your money on making your heart right before men and before God, we see you going into greater heights in Jesus’ name.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Amen!
Gboyega Adedeji: Till the next time we bring you another interesting videos, stay with God working on your heart. God bless you.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Amen!
