Mirrors: An Encouragement for My Sisters

As women, in general, we look in the mirror often. We usually pass by one or two every morning before even leaving the house. As I was thinking about mirrors, these three kept coming to mind:

Full-length mirrors – they allow us to view everything from head to toe                   

Handheld/Makeup mirrors- they allow us to view things in extremely close detail          

Fun-house mirrors- they allow us to view ourselves in distorted ways                                           

(probably how we often think of ourselves sometimes)

After a while, I kept thinking of a fourth mirror, but it is one of a more metaphorical variety and that is a mirror of the heart. This mirror allows us do look deeper than surface level; into our true intentions and into the most earnest parts of who we are.

Altogether, when we think of mirrors, a word that comes to mind is “image”. God’s image, however, is not really a visible image like we are first inclined to think about. Image refers to a representation. When we look into those physical mirrors, we see an accurate (or sometimes innaccurate) representation of what we really look like, but looking into the metaphorical mirror can be a little harder at times.

As believers, we have a responsibility to live a life that immulates, or represents, the character of God and the idea of the “mirror of the heart” is to hold ourselves accountable to that. God's image is one of integrity, humility, love, mercy, compassion, etc. The list can go on and on for days, but those characteristics alone can seem intimidating enough, but don’t let that ever discourage you from living a holy life. We have been prepared, in advance, for this type of living! What a blessing!

From the beginning, God let us know in Genesis Ch. 1 v. 26a & 27 what His intentions were in creating humanity. Verse 26a says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…’” and verse 27 goes on to reiterate what God said and did, “So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” The fact that God has clearly shown how He created us can be enough encouragement that we can truly live lives that reflect His very image. It seems very unlikely that God would state something so powerful without it being attainable for us.

The questions we should be asking ourselves and each other, is ‘Where is the mirror of your heart?’ and ‘Have you actually looked in it today?’ We must be humble enough to look into it every day. Sisters, EACH of you has been created in the very image of God. Don’t forget that! God had intentions for you to be able to live holy and pleasing lives so don’t be discouraged. He has faith in YOU. Let your faith be something you reflect into this world and have confidence as you represent the image you were created in.