What Mirror Are You Looking In?
(1 Peter 3:4 NKJV) ‘…Your beauty should come from within you…’
The World’s View
As we know, the world is obsessed with self-image and what we are supposed to look like from an external basis. The fashion industry and other magazines tell us we must have the “perfect body”, expensive accessories, the right hairstyle, clothes, and even what cars we should drive and what houses to live in! But this is not how God sees us or values us.
How God Created Us
God created each one of us as an individual, a unique person with specific features, personality traits, and emotional strengths. He designed us to be a vibrant, thinking, feeling and fully-functioning, amazing human being with our own unique beauty and attractiveness. He certainly provided us with more than just physical appearances. He gave us individual talents and spiritual gifts – inner qualities He wants us to develop and use for His purposes.
Our Inside Determines Our Outside
What we are on the inside should determine how we see ourselves on the outside. When our looks determine our worth, then an extra few inches or pounds here and there can just make us “strike out”. So can those magazine covers that exude false external beauty without character. If you believe this – Then you’re looking in the wrong mirror!
Beauty Comes From Within
The Bible says, ‘Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourself instead with the beauty that comes from within…’ (vv. 3-4 NLT). When our self-worth and beauty comes from God instead of people, we can wear a $10 outfit from a charity shop or a $1000 one from an up-market boutique, and we can look amazing either way…. Why? Because we recognize that our outer beauty and appearance doesn’t define who we are, or determines our individual worth in His eyes.
Look in the Right Mirror and See Your True Value
Our inner beauty can’t be bought, taken off a clothes rack, applied like make-up or put on like a new suit and shoes. It’s nothing but an ‘inside job’! So look at yourself today in God’s mirror and try to see what He values most: Your inner beauty and uniqueness that He has created in His own image. (Psalm 139:13-14 NLT)