Wake up, shower, brush your teeth, get dressed, do your hair, do your makeup, have some quiet time with God, eat breakfast, get your stuff together, and your day has begun. Most people see all of the these things to be necessary; a regular routine that no girl thinks twice about. However, instead of doing all of these things, what if you eliminated two of them? Not the quiet time, not the breakfast or the shower. Can you guess? What about doing your hair and makeup? Is that really a necessity? Is it something you can't go the day without doing? Does it make you feel good about yourself which in turn is where you find your self-worth? If your answer is yes, I'm not going to tell you to throw away your eyeliner or your precious Urban Decay Naked eyeshadow palette that costs more than a fancy dinner for two. I'm just going to tell you how Jesus sees you and how he sees your worth. Then I want you think about what's more important: how others see you or how the creator of the universe sees you.
In Proverbs, chapter 31 Solomon talks about how a woman who fears the Lord should be praised. Everything this woman does is to benefit others and how a heart for the Lord is something we each should be searching after instead of focusing on the outside appearance. He says in verse 30, "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." This is the theme of Proverbs itself and that quality of the heart and spirit is more important than the quality of her charm and beauty.
Now, this doesn't mean that makeup is evil, or that it's bad to want to appear pretty. In Ezekiel, it talks about how Christ adorns his bride: "I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Ezekiel 16:10-12 If you continue to read the passage, you will learn that the problem isn't the gifts that God gave to them, it was how Israel prioritized the gift over the giver. If the problem was the lavish gifts, Christ wouldn't have adorned his bride in them. Instead, it was when they focused their attention to the gifts for themselves instead of worshipping God.
So, in it's proper place I think makeup can be a good thing. Whether it's through self-expression or just a hobby, remember that it is not a necessity. God made you in his image which means you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Don't let your confidence lie in a Sephora store or the purchase of a brand new dress. Instead, let it radiate from within because you are a beautiful masterpiece of God and the most important beauty begins within.
