Vietnam Evangelical Covenant Church – Societies change. Fame fades. Our bodies will decay. Only God never changes (Malachi 3:6). The next time the devil lies to you in the mirror, turn away from the mirror and open God’s Word. Set the eyes of your heart on a greater, more satisfying beauty. Gaze long and deeply at Christ.
Every morning in front of the mirror, many people hear a familiar lie: your worth lies in your appearance. Scripture reminds us that “man sees what is outward, but the LORD sees the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). This article helps us recognize the lie in the mirror and place our worth in God.
I have grown strangely skilled at “shopping” for women. When I walk through a mall, a museum or even church, I subconsciously “shop” by picking out features of other women, friends and strangers alike, that I wish I had.
Oh, her face, please…
…and her arms…
…and her height…
…and just this one last thing…
But we know the next thing is never the last, as long as we seek physical beauty more than Christ. I will never reach my ideal because it isn’t real; it is a combination of perceived flaws I want to fix. The fantasy never matches reality. My insecurity craves it so much, but the picture pinned in my head does not exist, and I have no power to make it true.
Did God Get It Wrong?
The intricate power and deep knowledge of knitting a person together belong to God alone. And this is exactly the root of the sin of insecurity: not trusting that God got it right.
When we do this, we treat our sisters in Christ and other women as mere collections of physical features to envy and pick apart. This envy is certainly not loving others more than ourselves, nor declaring that God is gloriously sovereign. When I do this, I declare to Him and to the world that He made a mistake:
You can number and place the stars (Psalm 147:4), but God, You didn’t do that with the height You gave me.
You can count every hair on my head (Luke 12:7), but You gave me the wrong hair color.
You can form the mountains (Amos 4:13), but You got my body wrong. You made a mistake, or a dozen.
What arrogance! We fail to remember that our bodies were formed in the mind of God. He cannot knit us together wrongly. Our wants and longings can be wrong. We should long to fulfill His purpose in creating us in His own image, and realize that physical attractiveness will never satisfy or complete us.
Made for Beauty
We are certainly not yet at our most beautiful, because we were not made to be beautiful as an end in itself, but to serve the One who made us for His sake. We are free from the burden of “beauty” as the world sees it, because resting in the physical features we were given points us to the One whose beauty shines forever. There is a wonderful peace found in not being beautiful by society’s definition: a particular height, particular measurements or a jaw-dropping factor. Having an imperfect body is entirely normal.
This does not mean we should not steward our bodies as God’s temple (1 Corinthians 6:19). If the Spirit of Christ lives in us, our bodies are no longer ours to use selfishly or abuse (1 Corinthians 6:20).
We don’t need an attractive body to shine in men’s eyes. God’s eyes are already on us. He rejoices when we turn from the path of rebellion and grieves when we chase the cravings of the flesh, including wanting to be someone else (often anyone else) rather than the way a loving, sovereign God knit us together.
The Lie in the Mirror
I am only 24. Wrinkles have already appeared on my face. I have never had children, yet my body already has marks and scars. My eyes don’t get any softer no matter how long I stare at the wall. I can’t get any taller, and can worry add a single hour to my life? (Matthew 6:27)
I was once a teenage girl collapsed on a fitting-room floor, sick of what I saw in the mirror; I was once a woman who believed she was single because no man would notice someone who looked like me.
But our God is not of this world, and He is not a slave to this world’s standards of beauty. He chooses to call us His beloved through Christ (Romans 9:25). There is nothing greater than that (1 Corinthians 2:9), and nothing more humbling. In Christ, we learn to push aside the cloud of insecurity and gladly embrace the light of Christ-centered humility. But this is not easy. The desire for a perfect body must be nailed to the cross. As the Puritan Isaac Ambrose wrote, a beautiful body without Christ is like green grass on a rotting grave.
Less of Self, More of God
Insecurity is a terrible thing we are encouraged to wallow in. We don’t like to call it sin because it is a tender and painful area in many lives. But it is really just pride turned inside out. The more we focus on our deficiencies, the less we rejoice in and cling to Christ’s sufficiency. The more we focus on what we wish for, the less our hearts focus on God. The more energy we spend envying other women, the less we tend to serve them.
Insecurity should not be taken lightly, ignored or left unsanctified because “everyone struggles with it.” It is something to bring to God in prayer continually and fight alongside Christ.
Societies change. Fame fades. Our bodies will decay. Only God never changes (Malachi 3:6), to the very end (Isaiah 46:10) and beyond (Psalm 90:2). The next time the devil lies to you in the mirror, turn away from the mirror and open God’s Word. Set the eyes of your heart on a greater, more satisfying beauty. Gaze long and deeply at Christ.
Overcoming the Lie in the Mirror
The lie in the mirror does not only affect women or young people, but anyone who places their worth in appearance, age or their image on social media. The truth is that you are made in the image of God and fully loved by Him.
The next time you stand in front of the mirror, try replacing self-criticism with thanks to God. And spend more time caring for your heart than polishing your appearance.
You may also like: Lay Aside the Weight of Perfectionism and Don’t Be Yourself.
Prayer
Lord, set us free from the lie in the mirror. Help us see ourselves as You see us, loved and precious in Christ, and care more for the beauty of the heart than outward appearance. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Article: Translation Team – Communications Ministry, Vietnam Evangelical Covenant Church
Adapted from: DesiringGod.org
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