Escaping from the House of Mirrors

Escaping from the House of Mirrors

George BloomerBy George Bloomer5 Minutes

If you’ve ever visited a carnival or amusement park, you may have visited the House of Mirrors. It’s a place where everything is distorted. Fat people look skinny, skinny people look fat, and everyone looks strange. Although you can recognize yourself in the twisted mirrors, they don’t provide an accurate picture of what you really look like.

I’ve discovered that if we don’t stand in our true identity in Christ what God says about us in His Word we’re in jeopardy of living our life in a House of Mirrors. The Bible is supposed to be the mirror where we find our self-image (James 1:22-25, 1 Corinthians 13:12), but too often we see ourselves through the twisted lenses of the people around us.

If you take a moment to think about it, I’m sure you know many people who see themselves in distorted ways:

  • They’re not stupid … but they see themselves as stupid.
  • They’re not a victim … but they see themselves as a victim.
  • They’re not too fat … but they see themselves as too fat.
  • They’re not too skinny … but they see themselves as too skinny.
  • They’re not a failure … but they see themselves as a failure.
  • They’re not unloved … but they see themselves as unlovable.

Even though it might be fun visiting the House of Mirrors on occasion, it sure isn’t fun to live your life there. No matter what kind of warped self-image you may have received from your parents, siblings, school teachers, and friends, the Lord wants to heal how you see yourself. He wants you to have healthy self-esteem so you don’t continually sabotage your success.

Why Self-Esteem Matters

Self-esteem is our personal opinion of our worth, competence, and importance. It includes our thoughts, feelings, and attitudes toward ourselves. Sometimes our self-image is based on true facts about our personality or looks, but often our self-image has nothing at all to do with reality. The “mirrors” we are using to evaluate our worth are twisted and distorted.

Do you see how important self-esteem is? It affects every area of your life! A poor self-image will pollute your thoughts, emotions, actions, and values. It will make you feel hopeless, unwanted, unneeded, and unloved. You’ll constantly feel sorry for yourself and will end up pulling away from other people.

Those with a healthy self-image are outgoing and encouraging toward others, while those with poor self-esteem tend to become jealous, insecure, and possessive.

Your self-image also plays a major role in your ability to fulfill your dreams. A negative self-image will destroy your creativity and motivation, making you feel useless and depressed. You will find yourself unable to embark on new ventures, because your negative attitude toward yourself will make every new idea seem destined to fail.

When you’re feeling low about your self-image, it’s easy to think you’re the only one who feels that way. Those around you may seem like they have it all together, while you see yourself as the “ugly duckling,” the loser no one wants to hang out with. Believe it or not, everyone has felt this way at one time or another.

So don’t think for a moment that you’re the only one struggling for a better self-image. Many of us especially the men still try to project a macho image, but inside we’re more insecure and vulnerable than anyone can imagine.

Friend, there’s no reason for you to feel unlovable and worthless, when your Heavenly Father sees you as full of great potential and value. It’s time to see yourself in the only mirror that really matters the light of God’s presence and the truth of His Word.