“Esther’s
physical beauty captured the heart of the king, but it was her character that
actually kept it. Internal far exceeds the external.”
A
friend of mine recently decided to toss her makeup routine out the window. She
challenged herself to a period of time without wearing any makeup. In a world
so obsessed with looks and outer appearances, this is unusual. It wasn't about
seeing how people would react or letting her skin breathe. It was about the
heart.
I
asked sweet Randi-Paige to write a guest post, sharing her heart with us.
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Hi everyone! First,
I’d like to thank Bethany for inviting me to share my No Makeup journey! Also,
I very clearly and obviously love makeup, but not because it “makes me pretty”
or “covers my flaws”, but because it is so FUN! I just love it. I couldn't give
it up for good, but small stints is nice.
My reasoning behind no
makeup was that one of my friends posted about No Makeup November through Rave
Ministries. For those that don’t know, Rave Ministries was started in
Nashville, Tennessee by women, for women. I've done small stints of no makeup
and I’m always taught something new. I've always done it with long hair though,
so this time was a little different because I have very short hair right now.
The first few times that I did no makeup made me realize that I am beautiful!
With or without makeup you are beautiful because that’s the way that God
created you. He crafted you together and knit you into this beautiful woman, no
matter your shape, size, height, skin color, hair color, WHATEVER, YOU are
BEAUTIFUL! This time, going into the no makeup period, I knew that I was
beautiful. I felt it this time; I feel it almost everyday now, even with a
pimple or dark under eye circles. I really do believe that everyone is
beautiful, no matter what. This most recent one though, I felt as if I needed
to be nicer to people, smile more. I know that I should always be nice to
people, but some days when you are having a bad day you just don’t “feel” like
smiling at strangers. Well, when you aren't up to societal standards in the
hair and makeup department you realize that you are fully relying on your
personality. You can be the most gorgeous woman in the world and have a
terrible personality and be mean to everyone and get NOWHERE in life. So the
biggest thing I learned was to be nicer to people and let your personality
exude from the inside out!
The verse that I kept
going back to through this was Song of Songs 4:7, “You are altogether
beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. (ESV)” Do you understand the
magnitude of this verse? There is NO FLAW and you are ALTOGETHER BEAUTIFUL!
There is not a dang thing “wrong” with you. You are absolutely perfect in God’s
eyes and you should see that through your own eyes as well! I like the way The
Message writes this verse as well, “You’re beautiful from head to toe, my dear
love, beautiful beyond compare, absolutely flawless.” We are beautiful. We as
women should be lifting each other up, not putting each other down. How does it
make you feel when someone complements you? Amazing, right? You think you have
it all put together when someone tells you that you’re beautiful or pretty or
have the cutest clothes. Now think about when someone tells you that you aren't good enough? Or pretty enough? Or skinny enough? That makes you feel worthless. It’s not fun, so why would we say these things about other women who are God’s
creation. You are basically bashing God’s handiwork when you say terrible
things about anyone. He knit them together too. Love them.
(Bethany sidenote- I asked Randi-Paige her thoughts on 1 Samuel 16:7, “But the Lord said to
Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature,
because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; man
looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the
heart.”)
I think the verse in 1
Samuel 16:7 is more true than ever. Of course I always tried telling myself,
“You don’t know why that girl is wearing 10 pounds of makeup. Maybe she’s
hiding a scar, or the past, or has low self-esteem.” But until you are put out
there, every “flaw”, every small thing we see on ourselves is exposed,
especially our hearts. Having your heart exposed is scary, but it’s also a
freeing experience. We’re called to love generously and if we want to be loved
generously, we've got to do the same.
I hope this inspires
everyone to do something that they normally wouldn't do! God Bless you all!
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Isn't she wonderful?? I love her. We met through a mutual dear friend, Janice (yall have heard & seen her 'round here before, too!)
Yall head on over to Randi-Paige's blog, Farmer & Lemonade!
xo, Bethany
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