Whose Mirror is This?

Whose Mirror is This?
Finding our reflections in His mirror
by Wilma Ditterline

As women, we are always concerned with body image. We hear time and time again that as Christians we must learn to look into God's mirror and see our reflection through His eyes. The problem, however, is figuring out how to do this. Which mirror is His mirror? How do we distinguish the difference between two things that at times may look so very similar?

So, what's the difference between society's view and God's view? Let's look at it this way:

Mirror A (Society)
1. Society tells you that you are beautiful (if you do this__).
2. Society tells you that you are loved (if you act like this__).
3. Society tells you that you can do anything you want (if you have a certain amount
of money or prestige).

Mirror B (The Biblical Perspective)
1. God tells you that you are beautiful (period).
2. God tells you that you are loved (unconditionally).
3. God tells you that you can do anything (with Christ is your foundation).

If you put these two perspectives side by side, they may look the same at first glance. It takes a deeper look, but few people are ever willing to take the time to examine the differences between them. Too often we just glance at something without finding depth and meaning. We can see the beginning of the sentence and find the similarities, but never go any further to see the main meaning within the parentheses. Just a few words changed the above sentences. When we look a bit deeper into ourselves, we may find that those seemingly small differences make a world of difference for our self worth. When we look through the wrong mirror, we create a crack in our perception that may keep us from being all we were made to be.

What mirror are you looking into? If your mirror gives you conditions-(you are beautiful IF)-then you have the wrong mirror. If you find yourself working so hard to match up to something unobtainable that you find yourself comparing your beauty or intelligence to that of another, then you need change your mirror and find your true reflection in Christ. Without Him it is never enough, we will always feel that we need to do more and be more to find our beauty and happiness. What we really need, though, is to find rest and truth in our Savior. Trust Him to reveal your beauty to you, no matter how difficult it may seem at first. You need to be the best you possible.

Sometimes He must do some painful reordering of our thoughts and priorities to help us realize who we are meant to be. 1 Peter 3:3 (NIV) tells us that our beauty should not come from our outward appearance, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. In other words, we are to focus our desires on creating beauty on the inside. This isn't to say that the outward appearance does not matter, but that it should not be our focus. Our focus must be on something and someone so much greater than what this society, and its perspective on us, can offer.

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