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mirror mirror

by Jessica Van Roekel | Feb 18, 2016 | Christian Living | 3 comments

Mirror mirror on the wall who’s the fairest of them all….

The face looking back at me runs through the litany of comments….

fat

ugly

selfish

prideful

wounded

graceless

blunt

tactless

opinionated

dominating

controlling

manipulative

jealous

this list could grow and continue and morph into whatever you see or hear when you look into the mirror.

Mirror mirror on the wall….you are a liar or maybe I am the one with the warped perceptions of myself.

 I have seen the truth of these words in myself, but also within these words I have seen the lies.

The reality is that I can be domineering. I can be controlling. I can be ugly. I am wounded. I have wounded. I can be graceless. I can be blunt.

But the truth is that my wounds can be used for God’s glory. The truth is that when I wound, I can experience the beautiful gift of forgiveness. The truth is when I am domineering I have the opportunity to submit to the control of my holy, loving, gracious God. The truth is that all the parts of who I am–the good, the bad and the ugly– are all a part of me and who am I to reject what I see in the mirror. Rather than rejecting the ‘less than’ part of myself what if I were to offer those parts of me up to Jesus and surrender to whatever he wants to do to turn those weaknesses into a strength.

Don’t misunderstand me. I am not giving myself license to be the worst side of me, I am giving myself grace to grow into the best side of me and that side is only found in Jesus Christ. If I am going to grow then I can expect failures. But failures are not a sign that I failed per se, they are an opportunity to grow in a specific tangible way. Only in him can we be our best and if we detect patterns of thought that produce our worst, and we don’t hold them up to him like a child holding up a broken lovey and saying ‘fix?’ then I am not submitting to whatever he wants to do to turn those weaknesses into strengths.

the truth within these words is that there is redemption through Jesus Christ.

Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all….

forgiven one

chosen one

loved one

approved

appointed

 anointed

royalty

joy filled

saved

full of grace

covered in grace

What does your mirror say?

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3 Comments

  1. mundane wanderer
    mundane wanderer on February 18, 2016 at 9:12 pm

    See, this is one of the many reasons I love you! Your balance, honesty, and redemption could not have been written better even as a fictional character. God is the perfect author, but very, very few people let him work with everything they have the way you do. Thank you again, for sharing!

  2. jessicavanroekel
    jessicavanroekel on February 19, 2016 at 8:36 am

    You are too kind and too sweet! Thanks!!

  3. Sarah
    Sarah on February 20, 2016 at 7:39 am

    Thanks for being real. What wonderful reminder that we don’t have to be fixed in order to honor God. We do ,however, need to keep offering ourselves to Him for inspection and redemption. He is a real God, and we are real people. He is perfect, we are not. But He loves us and wants to help us. Awesome,amazing, and humbling.

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#christianwoman #Jesus #selftalk #livingwater #welcomegrace #reframingrejectionbook

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We lose our calling and identity because we grow warped trying to bend ourselves into a shape we can’t even identify. Chasing after man’s approval is like chasing the wind. We will not catch it. Wouldn’t it be better to stop and pursue God like we do people?

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The next time our hearts throb with disregard or disappointment, let’s agree to give it space and time for healing. This means we receive God’s comfort by coming to a full stop and share how betrayed we feel. Then, we apply his word as salve to our wounds. We read scriptures that remind us of his love for us and the healing power of forgiveness. And we give it time. Time for God to bind our wounds and time to heal

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