LACED WITH GRACE...mirror, mirror on the wall

Today I shared the following devotion with the readers of Laced With Grace, For other great devotions, log onto www.lacedwithgrace.com ....

One of the worst things a girl has in her room is a mirror. The reflection that she sees often times is not a true assessment of how God sees her. As a pastors wife, I have seen many young girls struggle with this.

Low self esteem.

Unfortunately, many young girls do not get victory over this and they take the insecurities of  youth into their adult life. How we see ourselves, what we think about ourselves, how we feel about ourselves, and how well we accept ourselves will largely determine what we put into and get out of life. If we look in our mirror and see ourselves as having little worth, we will never achieve the God-given potential that He has placed within us. However if we see ourselves as having great value, (not in a prideful way), but value as in how God sees and accepts us, we will, with God’s help, be able to reach and achieve our God-given life potential.

If we had a bar of iron, it would be easy to make some nails out of it, and it would be worth a few dollars. If we took that same iron and made it into weight bearing posts, it would be worth much more. If we could refine it and make it into stainless steel pots, how much more would it be worth? If we refined it even more, took out all of its impurities and used it to make finely tuned space age rocket engines, it would be worth a fortune!

Life is really like the iron. The potential is really up to us. If we believe in ourself, with God’s help and his “refining fire” (plus a lot of hard work), we can become the person God envisions us to be. We will then be able to fulfill our God-given life purpose.

What is important is not how or where we got started in life but how and where we finish! So next time you take a look in the mirror, try not to focus on the flaws and imperfections, instead see how God is going to use those flaws and imperfections for His purpose. We Will never be able to go out in the world and love others and see their beauty if we cannot accept what we see in our own mirror.

 “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than this.” (Mark 12:31)

 PRAYER: “Dear God, please help me to see and accept myself as you see and accept me, and put me through your ‘refining fire’ so that I will reach and achieve my total God-given potential for Your glory. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer.” AMEN.