Clean Off Your Mirror
My late brother Stan always carried a small pocket mirror. He could often be seen checking himself out. This habit continued as he neared death. I was surprised when just days after a lifesaving procedure, he requested from his hospital bed, “Lori, get my mirror out my black bag, please.” But he did. I suppose he was wondering why doctors and nurses kept commenting he looked good for a dead man. Taking the mirror, he wiped it off, ensuring he’d get a clear picture of himself.
Have you ever noticed how quickly mirrors get clouded with dirt, film, and debris? Residue settles from dust, and particles stick from myriad matter. It’s a natural occurrence, leaving the view we have of ourselves obscure. In much the same way, the grime of the world finds us, plastering its scum squarely on our beings. We are born into the world brand new. Divinely created for purpose, gifted with unique ability, and impregnated with dormant possibility, awaiting maturation. Yet something happens along the way. Life’s trials and trauma impact us. Someone bullies us as a child, and we become self-conscious. We grow up without our biological parents and develop abandonment issues. We become addicted to drugs, then ostracized and gossiped about by the very folks who should be embracing us. People can be cruel, hurling insults. The matter is worsened when the lies, betrayal, and pain come from loved ones and the body of Christ. But it happens, subtly and overtly. And the filth leaves its remnants.
Sadly, it can be this messiness through which we customarily view ourselves, distorting reality, and failing to understand who we truly are. The evidence is glaring. It is witnessed in our speech and the pattern of our behavior. We walk with a defeatist mentality: I’m worthless because nobody wanted me as a child. I’m not as gifted as she is. We put ourselves and others down. We get caught up in the monotony of life’s rhythm and neglect to live a life of abundance, using our life circumstances as shackles. This hazy view causes us to move out of alignment with the truth, and in turn, we hurt ourselves and others.
But 2 Corinthians 5:17 states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” As Pastor Tony Evans puts it, “God has brought about a spiritual transformation from the inside, and your identity is tied to your new birth.” In other words, as believers, we ought to be walking differently. But it’s hard to walk in newness when lacking clarity. So, what do you do with a distorted view of yourself? The same thing Stan, you, and I would with that mirror when the haze becomes too dense. Reach for a bottle of trusted cleanser, spray it on, then quickly wipe away the mess. And voila! The view is as clear as it should be again.
It’s time we do the same with the muck the world’s left on us. Turn to God’s Word to get a clear picture of the truth of who we are. What better source is there? We wouldn’t read the instruction manual of a microwave to understand how to operate a Mercedes. Instead, we would turn to its manufacturer. We must stop allowing others to influence how we perceive ourselves and look to the One True Source who knows every intricate detail about us. Reach for the trusted cleanser, The Word of God, and clean yourself off, Child! The Father sees us for who we truly are. He doesn’t devalue us because we didn’t do things His way. He doesn’t talk about us because we missed the mark on perfection. He won’t walk away because we failed to live up to His standard. Our loving Father, Creator of you and me, is the sole author of and authority on who we are. His definition of us is the only label we need to carry.
When you find yourself wondering who you are, take a good look at yourself by reflecting on what The Creator, our loving Father says about us and our newness in Christ Jesus:
I am created in the image of God.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27
I am precious to God.
Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Isaiah 43:4
God knows me intricately.
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart. Jeremiah 1:5
I am a child of God.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1: 12-13
God cares about me.
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11
I will not be condemned by God.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
I am an heir of God and a co-heir with Jesus Christ.
Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:17-18
Nothing can separate me from the love of God.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
In Christ Jesus, I have wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:30
My new self is righteous and holy.
And to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:23-24
I am a citizen of heaven.
But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. Philippians 3:20-21
God supplies all my needs.
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
I am set apart as holy.
We have been set apart as holy because Jesus Christ did what God wanted him to do by sacrificing his body once and for all. Hebrews 10:10
