Hello Friends!
Here we are, HALFWAY through our make-up free month. And we must tell you, with the help of others and God, it has become so much easier to go without make-up! We can't even the believe the difference from the first day when we felt so unworthy of everything, to now where we don't even care to put make-up on. What an exciting challenge this has been for us.
Thus far, we have both learned so many things. We have been working through the book, Set-Apart Femininity. It is our goal to not live lives of this earth, but to live SET-APART lives meant for our Holy King. We have been focusing on this whole "dead to self" concept-and it goes beyond the make-up. This challenge has become not about the make-up, but instead who we are as daughters of the King. We are not living to please men, or our friends, or any type of authority, but instead, Christ alone. We are found beautiful in the eyes of the king-and trust me, that is easier said than done.
Although we feel as if we have come to this point of contentment with the no make-up thing, we have come to realize there is more to "being beautiful" than just make-up. While not wearing make-up, we still try to look good with the clothes we wear or how we do our hair. It is amazing that society has clogged our brains so much that we are not ourselves unless we are "dressed to impress." Now, we are not saying that wearing cute clothes and looking nice is wrong (we love clothes! :) ) But when those clothes and make-up start to consume us, usually we don't even realize it, it becomes an issue with the self. God's word says we are to be DEAD to self! We don't have to be slaves to ourselves!
James 1:22 says, "Be doers of the Word, not just hearers." We have started to see this verse become prevalent in our lives lately. We have discussed how sometimes we become "fat" on the BIble. We are constantly being fed by church, chapel, personal devos, wing worship time, and daily conversations. It is so good to be filled up on God's Word, but sometimes, we forget to be living our what we are learning. We have been so encouraged by this fast to see the affect this challenge has had on others just from being "doers" in one small area of our lives. Trust us, we have a lot more learning to do, and God is for sure not through with us yet!
Thank you all, again, for all the encouragement! God is so good!
Blessings,
L&B
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
God is WORKING
Hello all!
Today has been day number NINE of our make-up free month, and we are beyond excited to share with you what God has been teaching us thus far. The first few days of our fast were pretty tough. I (Lauryn) felt like giving up numerous times. As we both looked into the mirror, we didn't see ourselves. It was discouraging to be asked, "hey, are you feeling okay? are you sick? are you tired?" Needless to say, the first few days were difficult, but the good news is we are past them! As we are just over a week with no make-up, we are beginning to recognize our faces in the mirror and become comfortable in our own skin. Yes, there are times each day when we wish we could just smear our faces with the wonders of foundation or mascara, but we know this is something good for us to do.
Throughout this week, we have been studying together and learning what it really means to have "true beauty." As we started studying, we recognized that the world says you need to have a, b, c, and d in order to look like this model or this famous icon. As Christian young women we thought, we don't really do that. We don't dress in an inappropriate way to gain attention from guys, we don't go party or get involved in bad things, we don't act flirtatious or sensual around the opposite sex, but we were proved wrong. Although, as Christians, we may not "participate" in the bad clothing or behavior, but we still believe we need to have this, this, and that in order to become something we are not. Very convicting. Christ calls us to be DIFFERENT from the world. How are we doing that if we are buying the clothes they tell us to buy? Or acting a certain way to receive attention? We are no different and that is the problem most young Christian women have today.
As we have continued on with our study, we have come across the worldly importance of finding our "inner beauty." Before we looked further into this, we thought inner beauty was a good thing. The world says we need to love our selves and God loves us, so shouldn't we love ourselves as well? The answer is NO. Loving ourselves would just be giving into the worldly standards of "inner beauty." Without Christ, we are NOTHING. As women, we all want to be beautiful and to be found attractive. And although that is not wrong, we still need to recognize that when we came to Christ, we traded in our desire to be found beautiful by the world in order that we may be found beautiful by Christ and Christ alone. How do we do that? By letting others SEE CHRIST IN OUR LIVES. When others see His glory shining through, we will be found beautiful. As believers we are DEAD to sin and ALIVE in Christ.
Today, we are all too focused on self and what the self wants.
"The Christian life can be explained only in terms of JESUS CHRIST, and if your life as a Christian can still be explained in terms of you-your personality, your willpower, your gift, your talent, your money, your courage, your scholarship, your dedication, your sacrifice, or your anything-then although you may have the Christian life, you are not living it yet." -Ian Thomas
In order to have a set-apart lifestyle, which God has called us to, we must lay down EVERYTHING and surrender all to Him and be CONSUMED with His love. Some may ask, "how is not wearing make-up being consumed with Christ?" It's not. But it has helped us realize that although the world may see us as beautiful with make-up on, God doesn't see us as any different. At this rate, it is not make-up that is the issue, it is the heart.
John 3:30 "I must decrease, so that He might increase!"
Again, we THANK YOU all for all the support we have been given. To GOD be ALL the GLORY!
L&B
Today has been day number NINE of our make-up free month, and we are beyond excited to share with you what God has been teaching us thus far. The first few days of our fast were pretty tough. I (Lauryn) felt like giving up numerous times. As we both looked into the mirror, we didn't see ourselves. It was discouraging to be asked, "hey, are you feeling okay? are you sick? are you tired?" Needless to say, the first few days were difficult, but the good news is we are past them! As we are just over a week with no make-up, we are beginning to recognize our faces in the mirror and become comfortable in our own skin. Yes, there are times each day when we wish we could just smear our faces with the wonders of foundation or mascara, but we know this is something good for us to do.
Throughout this week, we have been studying together and learning what it really means to have "true beauty." As we started studying, we recognized that the world says you need to have a, b, c, and d in order to look like this model or this famous icon. As Christian young women we thought, we don't really do that. We don't dress in an inappropriate way to gain attention from guys, we don't go party or get involved in bad things, we don't act flirtatious or sensual around the opposite sex, but we were proved wrong. Although, as Christians, we may not "participate" in the bad clothing or behavior, but we still believe we need to have this, this, and that in order to become something we are not. Very convicting. Christ calls us to be DIFFERENT from the world. How are we doing that if we are buying the clothes they tell us to buy? Or acting a certain way to receive attention? We are no different and that is the problem most young Christian women have today.
As we have continued on with our study, we have come across the worldly importance of finding our "inner beauty." Before we looked further into this, we thought inner beauty was a good thing. The world says we need to love our selves and God loves us, so shouldn't we love ourselves as well? The answer is NO. Loving ourselves would just be giving into the worldly standards of "inner beauty." Without Christ, we are NOTHING. As women, we all want to be beautiful and to be found attractive. And although that is not wrong, we still need to recognize that when we came to Christ, we traded in our desire to be found beautiful by the world in order that we may be found beautiful by Christ and Christ alone. How do we do that? By letting others SEE CHRIST IN OUR LIVES. When others see His glory shining through, we will be found beautiful. As believers we are DEAD to sin and ALIVE in Christ.
Today, we are all too focused on self and what the self wants.
"The Christian life can be explained only in terms of JESUS CHRIST, and if your life as a Christian can still be explained in terms of you-your personality, your willpower, your gift, your talent, your money, your courage, your scholarship, your dedication, your sacrifice, or your anything-then although you may have the Christian life, you are not living it yet." -Ian Thomas
In order to have a set-apart lifestyle, which God has called us to, we must lay down EVERYTHING and surrender all to Him and be CONSUMED with His love. Some may ask, "how is not wearing make-up being consumed with Christ?" It's not. But it has helped us realize that although the world may see us as beautiful with make-up on, God doesn't see us as any different. At this rate, it is not make-up that is the issue, it is the heart.
John 3:30 "I must decrease, so that He might increase!"
Again, we THANK YOU all for all the support we have been given. To GOD be ALL the GLORY!
L&B
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Initial Thoughts
Today is day 2 of our make-up free month. Yesterday went well, and we were excited about the fast. Today became a little bit harder as we looked in the mirror to see a blank face that didn't seem to be our own.
As we were getting ready in the morning we suddenly became unaware of what to wear and how to do our hair. We came to the realization that without make-up, we don't feel put together so we don't see the need to dress "cute" or "stylish." We became frustrated trying to make our outer appearance look good as we noticed our faces were blank and make-up free.
As we reflect on the beginning stages of this fast, we did not realize the difficulties that lay underneath. Satan is easily putting thoughts into our heads telling us that without make-up, we are not beautiful and might as well give up. Tonight we studied about true beauty and how we really do give into the worlds standards and who are we to say what true beauty is? God made us in His image and although we repeat that to ourselves all the time, it is still hard to understand and grasp that concept.
We desire to see ourselves as God sees us, because we are not at that point yet. Throughout this month, our prayer is that we will look away from the world's standards and see our beauty that God has given us.
Lord,
Let us not look to what the world is trying to make us do. Let us turn our thoughts away from what the world thinks we should be in their eyes. Let us see ourselves the way You see us.
As we were getting ready in the morning we suddenly became unaware of what to wear and how to do our hair. We came to the realization that without make-up, we don't feel put together so we don't see the need to dress "cute" or "stylish." We became frustrated trying to make our outer appearance look good as we noticed our faces were blank and make-up free.
As we reflect on the beginning stages of this fast, we did not realize the difficulties that lay underneath. Satan is easily putting thoughts into our heads telling us that without make-up, we are not beautiful and might as well give up. Tonight we studied about true beauty and how we really do give into the worlds standards and who are we to say what true beauty is? God made us in His image and although we repeat that to ourselves all the time, it is still hard to understand and grasp that concept.
We desire to see ourselves as God sees us, because we are not at that point yet. Throughout this month, our prayer is that we will look away from the world's standards and see our beauty that God has given us.
Lord,
Let us not look to what the world is trying to make us do. Let us turn our thoughts away from what the world thinks we should be in their eyes. Let us see ourselves the way You see us.
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