My wife's from the beautiful island of Jamaica, but is now a Jamaican in New Zealand. It's amazing how talented she is at hair braiding. She can braid her own hair even quite intricately and does a tremendous job with the hair of others.

I have learned a thing or two about hair braiding myself. No, sorry ladies, I have not yet learned how to braid my wife's hair for her, but I have learned that braiding is not always about vanity and showing off how good one looks. For people with 'Afro' hair, I realize there is a practical reason why they get their hair braided. It helps them manage their hair and have less daily hair hassles.

I have met some Christians (including African Christians) who are dead against hair braiding mainly because of the verse in the Bible in which the Apostle Paul writes, "I desire ... that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works" (1 Timothy 2:8-10). 

These African Christians who are against hair braiding generally keep their hair very short (virtually shorn), so they don't have the practical issues. Paul elsewhere though describes the long hair of a woman as her glory (1 Corinthians 11:15). 

I believe Paul in Timothy above is not prohibiting braiding, but rather encouraging women to be far more concerned about adorning themselves with godliness rather than costly beauty treatments, adornments or braids. 

That applies to all of us, men included. We need to be far less concerned about our outward appearance and more concerned about our hearts. After all, God looks on our hearts.