“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” - Proverbs 31:30
Every day I wake up, put on my makeup, fix my hair, and pick out the perfect outfit. I sit at my vanity for an hour every morning transforming myself into the version of me that I like best and the version of me that I think the world will like best. But why? I find myself spending more time worrying about what color lipstick I am going to wear that day than I am worrying about how I can serve the Lord. The Bible says, “ a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” not, “the woman who has the best eyebrows shall be praised.” So why is it that I still put my version of the perfect woman over the Lord’s version of the perfect woman? Confidence is defined as “the feeling of belief that one can rely on someone or something.” I am a girl who LOVES makeup, clothes, and shoes. I enjoy the empowering feeling and the burst of confidence that I get from wearing a bold lip, heeled shoe, and a cute dress. I enjoy feeling as if I could conquer the world. But that feeling that I enjoy so much is only temporary because at the end of the day when I wipe away my makeup and trade in my outfit for a big t-shirt, I am just me. With or without makeup, I am still the same girl that is too afraid to talk to the cute guy in the caf, the same girl that still isn’t quite sure how to do laundry the correct way, and the same girl who is still afraid to talk to others about Jesus. So why do I still feel that makeup is the answer to my problems? Why do I still feel as if makeup is going to make me confident enough to tell the world about Jesus? Besides, do I really believe that anyone is going to listen to what I have to say if the only thing I know is how to apply lipstick? As a christian, I should engage myself in the word all while sharing my journey and struggles with others so that they too may come to know our perfect Father. So, as I sat and read Proverbs 31 yesterday, it FINALLY hit me. Makeup is not the answer to everything and it is definitely not the answer to my struggles as a christian woman. So, today as I sat down and started my daily routine, I realized that I had been putting makeup in the place of Jesus. I realized that for so long I would not dare step foot out of my dorm without makeup, but I was willing to go out onto a college campus without Jesus (one of the places that need him most) and that scares me. So today, I vow that instead of putting my trust in temporary things such as makeup that instead I will turn to the Lord for my confidence and empowerment. Because I know that the only place I can find everlasting confidence, true confidence, is in the Lord. For the Bible says…
“For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.”
Today, I change. Today, I stop putting temporary things in the place of Jesus and focus of the importance of serving him. So tomorrow, when I wake up and put on my makeup, I will smile. I will smile because I know that putting on makeup is my choice, not my means of gaining the confidence it takes to face the day. I will smile because I know that I am no longer empowered by the things in this world. I will smile because I know that my confidence comes from Jesus. I will smile because I know that the Bible states,
“You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every single way” - Song of Songs 4:7
So with or without the makeup, I am still beautiful in the Lord’s eyes and that is enough.
Comments
Post a Comment