Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”

Does that quote sound familiar? We all know that this is a quote from the Disney movie Snow White. The Evil Queen has a magic mirror and asks it every day who is the fairest of them all. Every day the mirror says that she is, except one day when it told her that it was no longer her, but it was Snow White. That sent the Evil Queen into a hissy fit, and she conspired a plan to have Snow White killed. All because she was no longer considered the prettiest anymore.

Although the mirror was magic, the Evil Queen still wanted to feel like she was the most beautiful. She was upset when she didn’t meet the mirror’s expectations. I’m sure it wasn’t the mirror that she was trying to impress, but more of the people in her kingdom. If the mirror said she wasn’t the fairest anymore, then would everyone in her kingdom also believe that she wasn’t the most beautiful? The Evil Queen was focused on what she looked like and what others thought of her.

I feel bad for the Evil Queen. Crazy that I would say that, right? Well, I do. I feel bad for her because she obviously wasn’t happy with herself, and how she looked. She needed that improvement from an object to feel like she was good enough.

I Think We all have a Magic Mirror

I realize mirrors can’t really talk, but somehow they do. Whenever I look into a mirror, I cringe. I find I critique myself based on what I see in the mirror. If I was to ask my mirror who the fairest of them all is, I would bet it would laugh and say “Definitely not you”! There’s a song that came to my mind as I started working on this post. This is the first verse of the song.

Mirror, Mirror on the wall
Have I got it?
Cuz, Mirror you’ve always told me
Who I am.
I’m finding its not easy
To be perfect

Mirror by BarlowGirl

Kind of hits home, doesn’t it? I know for me; I find myself asking that question so often, and I realize it isn’t healthy at all. We focus so much on what we look like, because the world tells us to! We listen to our magic mirrors instead of listening to the One who created us!

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.

Psalms 139:13-16 NIV

The Lord created me; He created you! We were knit together in our mother’s wombs by him. He made us, and He made us perfectly and wonderfully! Why then do we find it so easy to doubt what He has made? Why is it we critique ourselves, and say that every little thing that we hate is a mistake? It’s easy to think that the Lord “messed up” when He made me. I think about that quite a bit. I’m overweight, and it’s so easy for me to look at myself and think how much the Lord screwed up in making me. So, if I say that He messed up in the way He created me, then am I saying that He isn’t an Omnipotent (ALL powerful) God? Basically, yes. That is what I’m saying. Do I mean that? No, but when we think that way, that is what our hearts truly feel.

So God created mankind in His own image,
    in the image of God He created them;
    male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:27 NIV

He created us in HIS image. HIS IMAGE! Wow! He knows He didn’t make a mistake. He is just waiting for us to realize that.

Thinking Bad about Ourselves Damages Others too

This was something that was difficult for me to write, because I don’t like thinking that I’m damaging others with the way I look at myself. How can that be? After all, it’s my body I’m talking about. No one else! It took me a while to realize that the way I view and talk about myself will affect the way my kids’ view and talk about themselves. They watch everything that we parents do and say, including the ways we critique ourselves. My oldest comes to me in tears because she doesn’t like this small little belly that she has. I tell her she looks beautiful, and she says “I don’t feel like it”. That felt like a punch in the gut, because there have been many times I’ve told my husband that I didn’t feel pretty even when he tells me that I’m beautiful. They really learn from us, and they will start to act the same way that we do. And yes, I believe this goes for both girls and boys! Boys can have self-image problems too. I want my girls, and my boy, to know that they are wonderfully made and are perfect! No matter what they may look like! They were made in the image of Christ, and that’s the most important part!

The Devil uses Our Critiques for his Good

When we talk like this about ourselves, we are allowing the devil to get a foot into our heart. We’re allowing him to use this struggle to hate the Lord because of how He made us. We can’t let him win! We can’t let him use these little things to bring so much hate in our hearts. The devil works in so many ways. Satan uses things like social media, magazines, reality tv, books, and so much more to make us question how we look. He constantly reminds us of what the world believes is beauty, and how we don’t even come close to being accepted as beautiful, to the world. There may be things you don’t even think he is using to control our thoughts, but trust me, they are all around. Satan knows what our biggest weaknesses are and he will take that and run with it. Anything to make us doubt the Lord!

Remember that song from earlier? There’s more to it!

Mirror I am seeing a new reflection
I am looking into the eyes of who made me.
And to Him, I am beauty beyond compare
I know, He defines me.
Yeah,

Who are you to tell me that I’m less than what I should be?
Who are you? Who are you? Yeah yeah.
I don’t need to listen to the list of things I should do.
I won’t try. No-oh I won’t try.

Mirror by BarlowGirl

Mirror Mirror on the Wall..

I don’t care anymore what you think of me, or what the world may think of me. I know that I am perfectly and wonderfully made, and that I was made in the image of the Lord! God doesn’t make mistakes, and I know He didn’t make any mistakes when He formed me! Does that mean that I can just eat whatever and not worry about exercising or staying healthy? Absolutely not!

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;  you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

This verse reminds me that our bodies are the Lord’s temple. We have to take care of ourselves, because that is important! I believe that this verse is not only talking about taking care of ourselves physically, but also spiritually. It’s important that although we are not defined by the world’s view on beautiful, we also need to take care of this body because the Lord made it, He created it for us! We need to honor the Lord by taking care of what He perfectly and wonderfully designed!

My friends, never forget how truly beautiful you are!