We look in the mirror in the morning as we begin our day getting ready.
We look in the mirror before leaving the lady’s room to ensure our makeup isn’t smudged. We turn our phones’ camera settings to face us so we can see ourselves before we take a picture, or even before a selfie, we look into a reflection of ourselves. We’ve looked at ourselves multiple times and are still trying to fix whatever we messed with from morning to look at ourselves in the mirror before bed while wiping away all we prepped for the day. This is our constant reflection on how we’d like to present ourselves to the outside world and people we know and don’t know—presenting confidence in our clothing, hair, and makeup. But what is your heart reflecting when you look in the mirror?
Do you see beauty?
Are your inner voice and thoughts calling out the lovely natural things about you, or are they nitpicking apart what you do not like?
We all have things we don’t particularly like about ourselves, but if that is your dominant view of yourself, then the reflection of your heart is showing much more than the literal mirror.
Beauty comes from within and not the imperfections or perfections we see on the outside. You may see a size you like, but you are not that size. Does that make you less than? You may see girls with long curly hair, and yours is short. Does it make you less pretty? Your face may have pimples or redness. Does that make you less than beautiful? The answer to all these questions is no, but I know how hard it is to believe, especially when you add a disability to it. My struggle has been comparison for years, and on occasion, the enemy often will bring that into my heart, and I feel less than I do no matter how much time and energy I put in the mirror to feel nice.
An older sister figure in my life who often spoke honestly and very bluntly said this to me that helped me rethink my negative thoughts about my outward image. She said, “When you look in the mirror, you may not see what you imagined or desire all the time, but that is not how God sees you nor how He created you. If you dislike what you see, you dislike how God intended His daughter to be.” (Woah!)
What she said has stuck with me, and to this day, when I’m struggling to see how I want to see myself or feel, I am reminded of our girl-to-girl talk in the bathroom. There is nothing wrong with makeup or buying nice things to enhance your style and beauty, but if you only do things to “improve” yourself, you are not seeing the beauty God created you to be. A reflection of a mirror shows you precisely what is in front of you, but when we look into the mirror with the perspective and accurate reflection of how our heavenly father feels about us, then there is no size, hair, skin, or physical disability can take from you that is imperfect.
As the year wraps up and you have events and holiday fun, I hope this post reminds you that as you get ready, you are perfect. You are gorgeous!
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