Is Your Mirror Talking To You? Do You Self-Talk?

Mirror, mirror on the wall.

Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who’s the fairest, the smartest, the richest…you get the picture. No, you don’t possess a magic mirror, but I’m gonna guess your mirror does talk to you and whether we realize it or not we all engage in self-talk.

 

What do you hear when you look in the mirror? How does it make you feel? My first guess is that what you hear doesn’t make you laugh. Do you listen? The acrid voice that speaks through most of life’s mirrors isn’t the least bit funny.

 

Mirrors shape our opinion of ourselves.

Life hands us many mirrors. Because we trust the reflection we see, we use it as a self-assessment tool to determine our intrinsic value. Our culture and those around us cannot give us an accurate mirror. Without exception, these mirrors distort, twist and stretch our reflection like a carnival mirror. But we still use them to measure our worth.

 What is your mirror labeled?

Each mirror arrives with its own label: “Appearance”; “Lifestyle;” “Financial Assets;” “Popularity;” and “Success”, whatever that is. To make things worse, we look from the mirror we’ve been handed over our shoulder or across the street to compare ourselves with someone else.  Back and forth we squint and inspect, from our mirror to our view of someone else. We believe what we see, or what we think we see. Never thinking about what we can’t see or the underlying problems we’ll never know about the person with whom we compare ourselves. So we continue to compare. We criticize. We look into that distorted mirror repeatedly, until our emotional bank account is drained and depleted. And then we wonder, “Why don’t I get more accomplished?”

 

You’re using the wrong mirror.

Have you been spending way too much time standing in front of the world’s mirror? Have you been looking, listening to the clamor, the accusations, the criticisms, the descriptions of fame and success that you’ll never be able to achieve.  I must warn you, the world’s mirror is distorted. God doesn’t see you like you see you. What you see is a mirror trick, sent by the enemy of your soul to rob your confidence of who you can be in Christ Jesus.

 

Stop it!!

STOP it!  That’s right! Stop believing and accepting the distorted view you see in the mirror. That belief is depleting your energy and robbing your future.

 

Get a new mirror.

Get you a new mirror. It’s labeled “Holy Bible”. Look in that mirror. You probably won’t recognize yourself. What does God say about you? Who does God say you are? Yes, you’ll see blemishes. You’ll see some dirt that needs to be removed. But when you look in the mirror of God’s Word, you’ll see the reflection of Jesus standing behind you, encouraging, loving and forgiving. You won’t hear anger or rejection. You’ll hear Him say, “Here, let me help you with that.”

 

Maybe you’re thinking, “Cute metaphor, Pat, but I live in the real world.”

 

But that’s WHY we struggle in the real world. We believe the distorted mirror and doubt God’s Word. Huge mistake!

What does the mirror of God’s Word say to you? How have you changed your self-talk?