Sometimes when we look in the mirror…we don’t like what we see.
It’s more than our physical appearance…in fact our disappointment goes much deeper than that. As we see ourselves our minds dig deeper than our flesh and we begin to deconstruct ourselves.
We pin-point and focus…we memorize and fixate…anxiety drifts over us in a cloud as we stress.
I’m weak… No one understands me… If they only knew how I’ve been hurt… How would they see me if they knew what I’ve done in the past? I’ve made so many mistakes… No one will ever love me… I don’t deserve to be loved… I can’t trust anyone… I’m alone… When they see me, they only see my past… I can’t be who I really am… I have to be someone else… I have to act like someone else… I need something…anything…to fill this void in me! I am weak…
On some level each and every one of us has thought at least one of these things at some point in our life. Like a song on “repeat” we judge ourselves again and again…our weaknesses and shortcomings…our failures of the past…our feelings of loneliness and being unloved…all these things overwhelm our thoughts and we feel helpless and worthless in the wake of it all.
Sometimes in the aftermath of our negative feelings we make the choice to try and be someone we’re not…we even act out and make choices that we know are not consistent with who we are or what we’re about. Acting this way stops the hurt, is a thought sometimes given internally to justify our change of behavior. We also act differently because we feel we’ll be more “accepted” by others who can’t seem to accept who we really are.
So that begs a question…
Who are you?
Brothers and sisters, I’m here to tell you that if you can answer this question…then you can begin building a life consistent to who you REALLY are.
No more living a life defined by shame or guilt….no more letting our weaknesses overtake us…and no more acting like someone or something we’re not.
You might be saying, “Jeremy, do you even know who I really am? Have you seen the things I’ve done? Do you know the hurt I’ve experienced in my life?”
And the answer is; no I don’t.
But what you need to realize is this…you’re not accountable to me. You don’t have to live your life dependent on how I feel or how anyone else feels you should live your life! The truth is we all need to be living our lives in accordance with someone greater, and that can only be, Jesus Christ.
Why?
Because He proved by way of dying on the cross, that you are loved and that you have worth and value, just as you are.
You don’t have to be or act like someone else to be worth what Christ did for you. You don’t have to live in shame and doubt…you don’t have to be defined by your past for the rest of your life and feel worthless. Jesus died to save you…to show you that you are worthy of sacrifice. As ugly as your past may be…as worthless as you may feel…as much as the world or your friends and maybe even your family may be lashing out at you…these things do not reveal how much you are loved by a God that knows you better than anyone else ever could.
Never forget brothers and sisters that we are not the worlds…we are not alone to ourselves…we are His.
“Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His…” –Psalm 100:3 (ESV)
If you don’t remember anything else from this blog, please remember this: You are special…and loved…and awesome just the way you are. You are amazingly unique…if you need further proof of that then just look at your hands. No one else has fingerprints like yours…no one else has the exact same patterns of lines etched masterfully into their skin like yours. You are set apart…you are unique…and you have a purpose.
“For we are the product of His hand, heaven’s poetry etched on lives, created in the Anointed, Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago.” –Ephesians 2:10 (Voice)
He knows your name (Exodus 33:17), He knows the number of hairs on your head (Luke 12:7), and He knows you from the inside-out (Psalm 139:13-16).
The next time you look in the mirror, understand that you are not alone in your struggles to be yourself…beyond your past…beyond your friends…beyond your own guilt…we all feel these same things.
So if we all can relate to each other, then maybe it’s time we all reach out and let each other know our secret. Maybe it’s time we unload our burdens and let people see who we really are. The truth is, there ARE people out there that will accept you for who you are, and you can live a life that’s beautiful and new.
Finding this life is not always easy, but it is worth it and best of all its purposeful. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it always…God will not waste anything you’ve experienced in your life…somehow and someway, He will use your life to proclaim His glory.
Are you ready to be who you really are? Are you ready to be who God has always meant for you to be?
Then its time to get to work…seek out God and dare to believe…see how He reveals who you really are…then look in the mirror.
