When a mirror is shattered, the image that is reflected in the mirror becomes distorted. The mirror cannot reflect the same whole image that it once displayed. This is much like ourselves when we discover what we consider being flaws. We no longer see ourself as a whole but rather, we pick out the flaws and focus more and more on them. The other day I heard a message from a professor at my school that had to do with self-esteem. This message was very powerful and left me speechless at the truth that it contained
The professor had been a counselor before she became a psychology professor. One day while she was working, a young student came in and told her that she had a problem. She called this girl "Milly" for the privacy of her clients. The counselor proceeded to ask "what is the problem?" Milly told her that she "had a freckle." While this wouldn't normally be a probable reason to go see a counselor, Milly's freckle was a big concern for her. This freckle happened to be the only freckle on her face and it was right in the middle of her nose. For a long time, the freckle was never a problem for Milly but one day someone told her that she could try and put makeup on it to cover it up. Milly was not bothered by what she considered a flaw until someone else pointed it out. Milly developed such a huge insecurity about her freckle that soon enough it consumed her entire image of herself. When she looked in the mirror, she was no longer staring at herself, but just a freckle instead.
This story about a girl with a freckle meant so much more than just that to me. I have personally struggled with so many insecurities that have consumed the way I have viewed myself. Over the past several years, comments and thoughts have influenced the distorted way I see myself. For Milly, it was a freckle. For myself growing up, it was weight or my complexion. Everyone has been insecure about one thing or another throughout their life.
The way I see it now is that we can either choose to continue staring at that shattered image of ourselves constantly finding new cracks or flaws, or we can look into a new mirror. We can make our self-image whole again, by putting our identity in God and not what other people tell us.
God created man in his own image, and in the image of God he created him, males and females he created them.
-Genesis 1:27
God made no mistakes while making each and every single one of us in His own image.
So after the professor prayed and thought about the freckle situation with Milly, she decided what she needed to have Milly do. One day, after chapel, Milly had to stand on a block while everyone walked out and say "My name is Milly and I have a freckle". The reaction was nothing less than perfect. People came up to Milly lovingly and accepting saying "Hey look Milly! I have a freckle too!" No one was disgusted or afraid of Milly with a freckle. No one judged her.
We all find ourselves afraid of what others may think. It's human. But we have the power to distinguish the difference of what the devil is trying to make us believe about ourselves and the truth that God made us perfectly and He gives us the perfect identity in him.
So put down that "shattered mirror." Grab a new mirror, and see yourself for the absolute beauty that you truly are.
