Do you know that mirrors are pathological liars? That they conspire to sabotage our view of self? That they can derail our walk with God? ALL TRUE.
That’s the theme running through my mind this morning and I’m sure it’s fall-out from my own scary encounter with a mirror yesterday getting ready for a video shoot. I’ll summarize that experience with these three words: HIGH RESOLUTION CAMERAS.
I have shot over 800 videos for my Love God Fear Nothing ministry over the past five years and become very familiar with my face. Over that span, camera technology has improved exponentially. Better cameras mean higher resolution and higher resolution means exposure of more “flaws” creeping across and collapsing my face.
The danger is believing that a flawed face (and/or body) equals a flawed person. But kids do not see it that way. They have no compunction to approach a stranger in the supermarket and ask them why their nose is “gigantic” or their legs “are crooked” or their eyes are “looking in different directions.”
Kids do this because their statements are true representations of how they see the OUTWARD-FACING person and nothing to do with the INWARD-FACING person. A “weird head” is just that to them—a weird head. It does not mean they are seeing a weird person.
I fight off my mirror’s power to get me focused on my flaws with this two-track approach: COMPARISON & EXPIRATION.
COMPARISON: Fight off the urge to evaluate how my “aging beauty” compares with others.
EXPIRATION: Accept that my outward beauty IS diminishing.
The question is not whether to wear make-up or get a good haircut. The question is how God’s definition of beauty changes our evaluation and pursuit of beauty. It boils down to whether we LISTEN to the mirror’s worldly narrative or LISTEN to God’s goodness.
Our notion of beauty must come from the deep recesses of our heart where GOD’S GOODNESS resides. Our “beauty focus” must be trained on JESUS, the only man whose heart sought God for every moment of his life.
That is where we find GOD’S “inner beauty” that obliterates the WORLD’S “appearance beauty.”
Our beauty slips with every beat of our heart. It is the ultimate betrayer. But God knew all about this from the very beginning of time when he said: “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting…” Proverbs 31:30
God’s definition of beauty never changes, and he does not own a mirror.
I ask God to turn my focus to the beauty that comes from his goodness. To help me reject the world’s powerful push to have us conform to its own standards of beauty. To give me the contentment that comes with a life in Christ.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
What does a look in the mirror make you think about your beauty?
“Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
