Mirror Mirror on the Wall . . .

As a little girl, my heart’s desire was to be the “fairest of them all”! And if I’m really honest deep down inside I still want to be the fairest of them all or at least right up there with Jennifer Lopez. I want to be beautiful. I want to feel that I’m important, treasured and loved.

And what girl doesn’t want that?

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

When I was in elementary school, some girls told me that I had fat lips. I can remember going home and looking intently in the mirror at my lips to see if they were fat. I didn’t really think they were but if that’s what they thought, it must be true! Gazing into the mirror of childish values, I found myself lacking!

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the perfect student of them all?

If I couldn’t be beautiful well than surely I could capitalize on my talents. So in college, I worked really hard to build a good reputation. I wanted people to perceive that I was perfect, multi-talented and amazing. It guided my every move – the friends I chose to hang around with, the classes I took, the activities I did. Unfortunately, that’s a pretty hard standard to live up to. And I found myself staring into the mirror of other people’s expectations and discovered that no matter how hard I tried, I didn’t measure up.

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

If I couldn’t be the perfect student than maybe I would find my worth in being a good mom. And so as a young mom, I felt the pressure of raising my children and once again I was so worried about what other people thought of me as a mother. I wanted to be the perfect mom – the one who made brownies every week for their kids, who responded gently to their disobedience and who had a clean house. These expectations led to the perfect storm and my poor children paid the price. I saw my reflection in the mirror of what I perceived other people expected of me as a mom and knew I fell short.

Why do I look to other people for my value and worth? Over the years, I have found myself spending way too much time looking at my reflection in other people’s eyes! And in gazing at their reflection of me I made myself vulnerable to their fickle viewpoint and was easily swayed by their opinions and perceptions.

But what do I do with this raging thirst for approval?

Look at what it says in Colossians 1:22 (NLT) “Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.”

Do you see what Christ has done for us? His death and our acceptance of His gift, has brought us into His presence and we now can stand before Him holy and blameless without a single fault!

I had this cheap full length mirror in college and when it was tipped back against the wall it made me look 10 pounds lighter. My legs were skinnier, my butt didn’t stick out so far and I loved it! Unfortunately, it wasn’t a true reflection, just wishful thinking. But when we stand in front of HIS full length mirror we see our true reflection.

Our salvation is NOT wishful thinking, what Jesus did to make us holy and blameless in His sight without fault is NOT a make believe hope its truth that we can rely on and truth we can trust!

So when you find yourself looking in the mirror of other people’s expectations turn your eyes to the One True Mirror – Jesus, who took your place, loves you unconditionally and sees you as holy and blameless without fault – and see your TRUE REFLECTION!


“When in the mirror of His love I look at my reflection. I accept myself for who I am with all my imperfections.” author unknown