Dying your hair could sound like fun, and a good opportunity to switch things up, but as Christians, we might want to think twice about why we want to dye our hair. We want to live in a way that glorifies God, and this could or could not mean dying your hair.
Can Christians dye their hair? Christians can dye their hair. There is nothing wrong with changing the color of your hair. The Bible reminds us in Proverbs 31:30, “beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Our worth should be found in the Lord, not the color of our hair.
There may be many reasons that you or someone you know wants to dye their hair. It comes down to if it is a desire that lines up with the truth in God’s word or not.
Christians Can Dye Their Hair
Dyeing your hair can be a fun way to express yourself. My friends and I would have fun when we were younger putting lemon juice in our hair to see if it would change color.
While Christians are allowed to dye your hair, you should examine your motives behind dyeing your hair.
The Desire To Fit In With People
The world around us can act in a different way than Christians. Our values as Christians stem from God and his word, the world relies on media and stars.
Being surrounded by the things of the world, it can be tempting to fall into the pattern of the world.
As Christians, we do not want to identify with the world and the things of the world, and just to fit in or because it is cool. We need to first have our identity in Christ.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9
Your desire to dye your hair could be an innocent desire to change your hair in a few, new way. It’s good to keep in mind we don’t have to look like everyone else.
It’s okay to dye your hair or leave it the way it is now.
Dyeing Your Hair Out Of Rebellion
Maybe you want to dye your hair because your parents or other authorty figures in your life told you not to. God knows the motives of your heart.
Don’t dye your hair if it’s to make your parents mad or act out. We are called to live out the fruits of the Spirit.
Honor God with your actions.
Appearances
It is easy to look at ourselves and name things we think we look bad in, or how we wish we were different.
Dying our hair could be one of those things that convinces you that you will look better with only certain colors. This should not be our motivation behind why we want to die our hair, because who we are as Christians are not found in our outward appearances.
But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’
1 Samuel 16:7
This can be applied to many other areas of our life, our motivation should not be to gain beauty in the eyes of the world, but in the eyes of God.
If we find our identity in how we look, and how others perceive us we can also fall into the trap of trying to stand out but not as a Christian.
Your Idenity
Your worth is not found in the color of your hair.
Wanting to stand out has to do with our identity, if we do not feel secure in who we are in Christ, it is easy to find other ways to gain that confidence.
Our identity must be rooted in Christ, not our physical appearance. The clothes we wear, the color of our hair says nothing about our identity. This is not to say it’s bad to look nice but to remember where your worth comes from.
Only God can speak true idenity to you. Open your heart to receive what God is speaking about you today. Through Jesus death on the cross, you are called chosen. Beloved. Priceless.
If your identity is not found in Christ, pray. The Lord loves you. He wants you to walk out in your identity as a child of God who has been set free.
I would also encourage you to reach out to a mentor or important female believer in your life. Share with her your struggles with identity. Ask her for practical steps you can take to walk in your identity in Christ. Have her pray for you too.
Because we are children of God, we are valuable.
Glenn Stewart
Truth & Beauty
While much of the world sees dying your hair as a way to catch the attention of others or to make yourself look prettier, we should not look to the definition of beauty in the world, but instead to how God sees us and defines beauty.
Scripture is full of truth and beauty, God reminds us who we are in Christ, and how we can exemplify Christ in how we live.
Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.
1 Peter 3:3-4
We should not strive to only have outward beauty, because it is not lasting and is only worth something in the eyes of the world. Inward beauty matters most to God.
We want to stand out for Christ.
It is important that we find our identity in Christ and not in our appearances, God desires for our beauty to be found first and foremost in the heart.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2
We should look to scripture as our guide and conform our ways to look like Christ and not like the world. Looking like Christ and not like the world may be different for you.
So yes, you can dye your hair. Just remember where your true identity comes from.