A Poor Reflection

The other day I went shopping with my daughter. As we walked into the dressing room at Marshall’s to try on some things, I noticed that my hips looked much wider than I thought they should.

“Wow, that mirror is wide!” I exclaimed.

“Yes, it is!” My daughter affirmed.

Well, it probably goes without saying that I couldn’t bring myself to purchase any of the items that I tried on. Everything looked horrible. Either the garment was wrong for my body; or my body was wrong for the garment. I haven’t figured out which is the truer statement yet.

On the way home I wondered if there exists a mirror through which we see ourselves the way we really are. Some make us look tall and slender, while others, like the one I encountered at Marshall’s, make us look short and…um…shall I say stout? When I look at myself in my mirror at home I know I should lose a few pounds…or perhaps more than a few, but I don’t feel like I did while seeing my reflection in the fitting room mirror.

So I decided that mirrors are bad for my self-esteem. They only reflect what I want to see on a given day. Some days I see that I’m having a “good hair day”. Other days I can’t see past the lines around my eyes. So what are we to do? Here’s a thought. Forget about it! If looking in the mirror causes us to feel bad about ourselves, then we should stop looking. Even God knows that our mirrors offer us less-than-ideal images of ourselves. First Corinthians 13:12 says Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror... (NIV, emphasis added.)

I think it’s time to get a real picture of myself. There’s only one place I think I should go…and no, not to my husband. I need to take a good long look in the mirror of God’s Word. For those of you who need to embrace the only perspective on yourself that matters, here are a few Scriptures that tell us who we really are as viewed through God’s eyes. His after all, are the only perfect eyes capable of offering us true reflections of who we are.

Those who look to him are radiant… Psalm 34:5 (NIV)

I am fearfully and wonderfully made… Psalm 139:14 (NIV)

I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)

… we are God's children. Romans 8:16 (NLT)

… we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ… Romans 8:17 (NIV)

… we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:37 (NIV)

… Christ accepted you… Romans 15:7 (NIV)

… if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors… 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV)

For we are the temple of the living God. 2 Corinthians 6:16 (NIV)

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. Ephesians 1:3-4 (NIV)

For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus… Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

…we are members of his body. Ephesians 5:30 (NIV)

…you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God... 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)

[God] has saved us and called us with a holy calling… 2 Timothy 1:9 (NKJV)

…we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken… Hebrews 12:28 (NIV)