Mirror Image

She didn’t want to be thought of in that way, but the way she lived her life always made it appear to the world that she really was what they thought she was. The world would never understand that the wall she put up around her heart, even her life made her seem like she was a person without feelings. It’s not that she had a hard life, she grew up in a loving home, and had friends (though not a lot of them). She grew up in a church that made her feel loved and accepted. Over time though life sank in and hard lessons were learned. She lost trust in people, she lost trust in herself to make choices that would not pile on more problems. She lost some of the faith she had relied on most of her life. So people saw her for the hard exterior she put on, and quite frankly she was sick of it. She wanted a change.

The world loves to label, loves to find value in the things we do rather than who we are as people. Parents want to have their kids succeed, and so they try and encourage their kids, save for college, and be there for them as much as they can. The pressure to have successful kids can sometimes lead to the parents loosing their identity as people who are someone other than a parent. People who own businesses are known for what their business sells. Preachers are known for preaching. Teachers, vets, doctors all the same. But who are they apart from the “profession” they have chosen?

We loose who we are as individuals when we allow the world to label us based on what we do, or how we act. Who we see in the mirror is different than what the world sees when we step into the public eye. Social media shows us what we could have, or how we should look, or even what we should identify as and then anxiety over not having that, or looking like we should, or not being what we’re told we should be makes us put up the walls that protect the inner workings of our heart.

Faith tells us we need to get back to our roots. We need to go back to the One that created us and loves us no matter what. He is the wall breaker, the one we can rely on, and that will look at us at our worst and still gather us up in His arms to let us feel His love and protection. Christ wants us to get back to a brand new way of living. One in which doubt doesn’t rule, worrying isn’t our “go to” response, and fear isn’t something that rules us. We can’t add a single second to our day by worrying over the future. Loving ourselves and others like Christ loves us isn’t easy but walls shouldn’t be erected because we are scared to do it. The world will find a way to think bad about others. It is the nature of humans, we worry, we have fear, we want control of the things in our lives. When we live without the faith we should have in Christ, we don’t have the freedom to show who we really are. We will hide the flaws, we will put up walls, and we will answer with “I’m good, everything is good”.

We are called to be genuine, to love as Christ loves, and to be real with what is going on in our lives. The person in the mirror is important. She is not who the world say she is, she is a child of God, which makes her royalty. Until next time:

A bottle of water can be $1 at the market, $3 at a restaurant, $4 at the movies, and $6 in the airport. It’s the same exact water. The only thing that changed it’s value, was the place. So, the next time you feel like you have no value, maybe you’re in the wrong place.

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