When we moved a few years back we inherited all sorts or quirks in this new house. Flowers sprung up that we had no idea existed, floor boards squeaked in odd places, the toilet was pink…but it took us a while to realize a few of them. For some reason the bathroom mirror is warped. The realization was long in coming that these mirrors reacted to an object like a funny mirror at an amusement park. You know those mirrors that are endlessly hilarious because they make you look too short or too long or too something-other-than-what-you-really are? Yeah, well that’s our bathroom mirror.
The thing is it’s subtle enough to not realize that it’s making you look terrible (our poor guests). You just stand there fidgeting with your hair or wondering if it’s the lighting in the bathroom that’s making you look a little off that day. Of course there was finally that moment when my mom and I were standing there looking at the refection and we had an “ah ha” moment. It took looking somewhere else to see the truth about how we looked that day.
I think we do this all the time as humans. We look to the wrong thing to tell us who we are. We often choose a jumbled look at reality. We choose the funny mirror. What is the solution though to a warped mirror?
You see, where we turn our gaze matters. If we’re looking into a warped mirror we will see the wrong view of ourselves. It might be amusing or scary at first but in reality it’s not telling us the truth. I believe that the only person that can give us an accurate picture of who we are is Jesus. Do you know what picture he sees of his children? He sees them as completely righteous, holy, loved. While we often see the worst version of ourselves he looks at us and says, “there is now no condemnation.” The truth is that we get his perfect record. Yes, at one time we were more flawed and sinful than we can even begin to dream but that mirror has been thrown out. It doesn’t get to tell us who we are any more.
Instead of looking into a messed up mirror we need to look through the lens of scripture. “The looked to him and were radiant and their faces will never be ashamed.” I know I’ve quoted that verse from Psalm 34:5 several times on here but it’s because it teaches me so many things. I’ve got to stop looking at myself and start looking at Jesus. When I see who he really is then I’m changed. He has said he sees me with the perfect record of his Son. From where I’m standing that view looks pretty beautiful.
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I so adore this comparison, Elaini! 🙂 It reminds me of my nine-year-old self when I put on a pair of glasses for the first time. For my entire life, I’d had no idea that I wasn’t seeing the full picture. For the first time I saw the pine needles on the trees. Freckles on my dad’s nose. I could read the TV guide from the couch! I’ve quite literally never looked at the world the same since then.
The same concept works with your warped mirrors and turning your eyes to Jesus. It’s like looking at things from a new lens you never even knew was there. 🙂
Emily, what a fabulous illustration! Thanks for sharing that. 🙂