No Makeup November
On November 1, many adventurous young men will cap their razors and tuck them away at the back of their bathroom shelves. For the next thirty days, they will proudly sport their facial hair, however wild it may grow. You may have heard of "No Shave November", the shameless event where brave young men let their facial hair grow all month long. I remember walking around campus at the end of November and noticing how suddenly every male looked like a caveman or a mountain man...or like they just came off Duck Dynasty.
For the brave females, "No Shave November" turns into "No Shame November", which is only for the ladies that are confident enough to not shave their legs for an entire month. One year, my university hosted a "Shameless Shins" contest in November, but my friends and I renamed it the "Shins of Shame." Needless to say, none of us lasted. It was all in good fun...but definitely pointless. And maybe slightly gross.
Then I heard about "No Makeup November", an event put on by Rave Ministries. Unlike "No Shave November" and "Shins of Shame", "No Makeup November" is anything but pointless.
It is a thirty day fast from Makeup, not because we hate makeup or judge those who wear it, but rather because we believe in redefining beauty.
Our culture, advertising, and entertainment tell us that beuaty is having the perfectly-painted, put-together face with a hairstyle and clothing to match. In some subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle ways, we are taught to base our beauty on physical perfection. We think we need to cover up our so-called "flaws" to even go out in public. We want to be beautiful, but we have been plagued with lies.
The truth is that the desire for beauty is a gift from God. God, the most Beautiful One, created us in the image of His beauty. He even created a beautiful world - full of starry skies, radiant sunsets, firey fall trees, vast sparkling oceans, delicate wildflowers, and singing sparrows - to reflect His perfect beauty. The inner desires of our hearts to see and behold beauty must be inherited from Him.
But we will never truly see and behold beauty until we look into the eyes of Jesus.
When we gaze into His face and see the love in His eyes - a love that took Him to the cross on our behalf - we see the true beauty of His grace, love, and faithfulness. And suddenly everything pales in comparison. We begin to see that beauty does not come from outward adornment, but from beholding Jesus. Like Moses, our own faces will begin to radiate with glorious beauty just from being in the presence of God.
The truth is that true beauty is defined as beholding and reflecting the beauty of Jesus.
Song of Solomon 4:7 says, "You are altogether beautiful, and there is no flaw in you."
We are fasting from makeup this November because we don't just believe in true beauty, but are willing to do something about it. We want to make a statement, but it is not that makeup is from the devil or that wearing makeup is a sin. We simply want to show that beauty is more than the superficial. We want to encouarge women to return to their simple, natural beauty and to embrace their God-given confidence.
Most of all, we want to prompt you to gaze into the eyes of Jesus and behold His unending love for you. For in beholding His beauty, your face will begin to radiate it, too.
Check out Rave Ministry's page for more information about No Makeup November and to sign up to participate with us.
For the brave females, "No Shave November" turns into "No Shame November", which is only for the ladies that are confident enough to not shave their legs for an entire month. One year, my university hosted a "Shameless Shins" contest in November, but my friends and I renamed it the "Shins of Shame." Needless to say, none of us lasted. It was all in good fun...but definitely pointless. And maybe slightly gross.
Then I heard about "No Makeup November", an event put on by Rave Ministries. Unlike "No Shave November" and "Shins of Shame", "No Makeup November" is anything but pointless.
It is a thirty day fast from Makeup, not because we hate makeup or judge those who wear it, but rather because we believe in redefining beauty.
Our culture, advertising, and entertainment tell us that beuaty is having the perfectly-painted, put-together face with a hairstyle and clothing to match. In some subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle ways, we are taught to base our beauty on physical perfection. We think we need to cover up our so-called "flaws" to even go out in public. We want to be beautiful, but we have been plagued with lies.
The truth is that the desire for beauty is a gift from God. God, the most Beautiful One, created us in the image of His beauty. He even created a beautiful world - full of starry skies, radiant sunsets, firey fall trees, vast sparkling oceans, delicate wildflowers, and singing sparrows - to reflect His perfect beauty. The inner desires of our hearts to see and behold beauty must be inherited from Him.
But we will never truly see and behold beauty until we look into the eyes of Jesus.
When we gaze into His face and see the love in His eyes - a love that took Him to the cross on our behalf - we see the true beauty of His grace, love, and faithfulness. And suddenly everything pales in comparison. We begin to see that beauty does not come from outward adornment, but from beholding Jesus. Like Moses, our own faces will begin to radiate with glorious beauty just from being in the presence of God.
The truth is that true beauty is defined as beholding and reflecting the beauty of Jesus.
Song of Solomon 4:7 says, "You are altogether beautiful, and there is no flaw in you."
We are fasting from makeup this November because we don't just believe in true beauty, but are willing to do something about it. We want to make a statement, but it is not that makeup is from the devil or that wearing makeup is a sin. We simply want to show that beauty is more than the superficial. We want to encouarge women to return to their simple, natural beauty and to embrace their God-given confidence.
Most of all, we want to prompt you to gaze into the eyes of Jesus and behold His unending love for you. For in beholding His beauty, your face will begin to radiate it, too.
Check out Rave Ministry's page for more information about No Makeup November and to sign up to participate with us.
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