Girl, Wash Your Face Review
Women everywhere were reading Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis last year but it took me awhile to get the book. I had read an article criticizing her and her website so I was leary of reading her book. Finally a friend told me to read it and make my own judgments about it. So I did. And I am.
Rachel says on page 125, “I appreciate wisdom wherever I can get it. No one person can be your source for all the answers, but you can glean a handful of powerful thoughts here and a dash of insight there. I donʼt for one moment believe that youʼre going to take every single thing in these pages as gospel.”
Ok, but when you write a book it will influence people.
When we read books we must be mindful of what the Bible teaches.
We must take every thought captive and line every piece of advice up with Scripture.
There are a lot of good tidbits in this book like on page 17:
“If you choose today not to break another promise to yourself, you will force yourself to slow down. You cannot keep every commitment, promise, goal, and idea without intentionality. If you recognize that your words have power and that your commitments carry covenant weight, you wonʼt agree to anything so easily. Youʼll have to ask yourself if you really, truly have time to meet that friend for coffee this week. Youʼll have to decide if working out four times before Sunday is a real possibility, or if itʼs more realistic and achievable to commit to two beast-mode sessions and then one power walk with your neighbor.
Youʼll slow down and think things through.
You wonʼt just talk about a goal; youʼll plan for how you can meet it. Youʼll set a goal and surprise yourself when you achieve it.”
I donʼt think itʼs wrong to set goals or to have dreams as long as you are following the Lord and keeping your eyes on Him and pursuing Him. The Bible says in Hebrews 12:2
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
We must first look to Jesus.
Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these
things shall be added unto you.”
Therefore I disagree with Rachel on this point. She talks about envisioning things that motivate her and one of those things was an expensive purse. “I wanted a Louis Vuitton Speedy bag. I wanted it because it represented the kind of woman I dreamed of becoming.” She talks about how she coveted the purse and dreamed of having it, etc.
The Bible teaches us to “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:2
Things of this world will pass away but things of eternal value wonʼt. We have to be careful what we set our minds and hearts on.
The overall message of the book is for women to take control of their lives and make something of
themselves. To “become who you were meant to be.” Jesus tells us to take up our Cross and die to ourselves and be who He wants us to be which is sometimes not what we would choose for ourselves.
Sometimes His Ways arenʼt quite so glamorous.
Titus 2 teaches us what women are meant to be biblically.
2 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:
2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their
Rachel says on page 125, “I appreciate wisdom wherever I can get it. No one person can be your source for all the answers, but you can glean a handful of powerful thoughts here and a dash of insight there. I donʼt for one moment believe that youʼre going to take every single thing in these pages as gospel.”
Ok, but when you write a book it will influence people.
When we read books we must be mindful of what the Bible teaches.
We must take every thought captive and line every piece of advice up with Scripture.
There are a lot of good tidbits in this book like on page 17:
“If you choose today not to break another promise to yourself, you will force yourself to slow down. You cannot keep every commitment, promise, goal, and idea without intentionality. If you recognize that your words have power and that your commitments carry covenant weight, you wonʼt agree to anything so easily. Youʼll have to ask yourself if you really, truly have time to meet that friend for coffee this week. Youʼll have to decide if working out four times before Sunday is a real possibility, or if itʼs more realistic and achievable to commit to two beast-mode sessions and then one power walk with your neighbor.
Youʼll slow down and think things through.
You wonʼt just talk about a goal; youʼll plan for how you can meet it. Youʼll set a goal and surprise yourself when you achieve it.”
I donʼt think itʼs wrong to set goals or to have dreams as long as you are following the Lord and keeping your eyes on Him and pursuing Him. The Bible says in Hebrews 12:2
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
We must first look to Jesus.
Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these
things shall be added unto you.”
Therefore I disagree with Rachel on this point. She talks about envisioning things that motivate her and one of those things was an expensive purse. “I wanted a Louis Vuitton Speedy bag. I wanted it because it represented the kind of woman I dreamed of becoming.” She talks about how she coveted the purse and dreamed of having it, etc.
The Bible teaches us to “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:2
Things of this world will pass away but things of eternal value wonʼt. We have to be careful what we set our minds and hearts on.
The overall message of the book is for women to take control of their lives and make something of
themselves. To “become who you were meant to be.” Jesus tells us to take up our Cross and die to ourselves and be who He wants us to be which is sometimes not what we would choose for ourselves.
Sometimes His Ways arenʼt quite so glamorous.
Titus 2 teaches us what women are meant to be biblically.
2 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:
2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their
own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
This is who God wants us to be. Think about it. Pray about it. Study Titus 2.
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