Monday, July 16, 2012

Mirror...Mirror...


Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?
- the wicked queen in "Snow White"




Me! Oh wait...that's not the point of this. But yes, that is a picture of my face. Its my favorite picture of me, to be exact. Know why? Because it highlights everything I love about my physical appearance and hides pretty much everything I hate ( most of that is because I photo shopped the crap out of it, but lets just pretend its not.)

 I have this thing where I look at the mirror and all I see are the things I like about myself, completely ignoring all the other things I don't like. And I know what you are thinking this totally sounds like a gift, and it is, in a way. That is, until I look at a picture of myself and I'm like dang "Who's that old, fat homeless lady? 

Sometimes its truly awful because I don't see me when I look at those pictures. I feel like another person trapped inside that ugly persons body. Sound familiar?

 I feel for the most part most women have distorted views of themselves. We are bombarded daily with these images of women scantily clad and photo shopped within an inch of their lives. They rarely post photos of ordinary looking women dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Ordinary doesn't sell. "Sexy", flawless imaginary women covered in eighty pounds of makeup, push-up bras, self tanner and false eyelashes do. It sells because that is the world's standard of beauty. Fake. Not perfect. Fake. 

But what if we changed all that? What if we looked in the mirror and were proud of the woman staring back at us? Instead of focusing directly on each flaw or, as in my case, denying their existence at all...what if we accepted the image we saw looking back at us, flaws and all. What if we admitted that that woman was worth loving, valuing and respecting because she was created for that purpose?

"Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all  the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Genesis 1:26 NKJV

Did you notice that? "Let Us make man in Our image". We were created in the image of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity. All of who God is. We were created to look like Him. I don't know about you, but never in my wildest dreams would I classify the Lord Almighty as ugly. So why then is it so easy for me to call myself that? In saying that, am I implying that the Lord is capable of making mistakes because I'm not the Swedish supermodel I think I should be? 

Then their are those of us who think so little of ourselves that we rely on our looks for our self worth. Hours spent primping and plucking, plumping, lifting and sucking in, trying so hard to maintain and image of what we think beauty really is. If we aren't beautiful then we are nothing, right? But what is beauty anyway? Is it just about the state of your face or a state of mind? 

Proverbs 31 has become sort of the Biblical standard of the ultimate woman. But the 22 verses it takes to describe her have pretty much nothing to do with her looks. She is virtuous, trusted, handy, hard working, brave, generous, prepared, industrious, kind and wise. Her husband and children have nothing but my praise for her. But my favorite part of the entire passage is at the very end in verse 30:

"Charm is deceitful and beauty is passingBut a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised."

Her husband didn't honor her because she was hot. Her children didn't praise her because of the tint of her lip gloss. She earned their respect by the strength of her character and her willingness to serve the Lord in everything she did.

It is dishonoring and disrespectful to the Lord for us to see ourselves as anything but a treasure and a thing of beauty in His eyes (and ours). Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. If His Spirit is within you, how can you help but live in the freedom of His beauty reflecting through you? He loves us...and His love is transforming.We are His image....His reflection. He doesn't make mistakes. How can we hate and despise His design? 

"Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Corinthian 3:17-18 NKJV

If you don't know the Lord...man...let me tell you, you are in for a treat. He gives you love, honor and acceptance free of charge. You can't earn it or buy it. You don't have to perform or qualify. You just have to accept Him. Accept His saving grace. Accept his love. You will never feel more beautiful in your entire life as you will when you know Jesus is looking at you.

Mirror mirror on the wall....who's the fairest of them all? Oh yeah...Jesus


"My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. You are fairer than the sons of men..." Psalm 45:1-2 NKJV

2 comments:

  1. your caption to the photo made me laugh out loud. i can totally relate! i love picmonkey. :) but seriously, it is a gorgeous photo of you, my friend! your eyes are piercing and the most beautiful shade of blue! miss you!! lora

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