Priorities vs Beauty.

A friend reached out today with a concern. Let’s call her Billionaire. She asked through sharing a clip she had seen for me to share my maoni on the same.

In the clip, the speaker was highlighting the need for men to step up and lead their families in the place of prayer by covering them as a priest would. This was occasioned by hearing people say often that it’s their mothers’ prayers that have kept them and brought them however far in life—a common statement among testifiers when they speak of their reasons for success.

As I was listening to the clip, the words of Paul to Timothy came to mind:

“Therefore I want the MEN everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. I also want the WOMEN to dress modestly, with decency and propriety…” (1 Timothy 2:8–9).

Notice how Paul is specific here: men and women.

The men in Ephesus had abandoned prayer and instead picked up disputes and anger. Paul tells them: put your hands up in prayer, not in fights.

The women, on the other hand, had abandoned modesty and became models. Worship time was looking more like a fashion show—gold, pearls, elaborate hairstyles, expensive clothing. Paul reminds them: true beauty is in good deeds. They should prepare for services more through the mirror of the word than through the mirror on a wall.

In short:

- Men, step back into prayer.

- Women, step back into purity.

Paul wasn’t excluding one gender from the other’s responsibility: men ought to be pure and women should be prayerful. He was simply addressing the specific areas where each had dropped the ball.

So, yes—when we often hear “ni maombi ya mathe imenifikisha hapa”, that’s beautiful and true. But Paul’s call still stands: men, stop outsourcing the priesthood of your homes. Lift up holy hands. Cover your families in prayer. Women, let your beauty shine most in your good works.

That way, both prayer and purity remain pillars in the house of God.