The Mirror that Spoke Terrible Things to Me

This is a guest post by a dear friend of mine, Melanie Philipnery who loves Jesus and is from Montreal, Canada who also assists in Revive Nations. You can follow her on twitter @MelPhilipnery

A mirror can sometimes be a terrible thing if you cannot see beyond the mere reflection. For years as a teenager and then as a young adult I suffered from emotional depression, a terrible inferiority complex and low self-esteem.

Wearing big glasses, braces and suffering from bad acne, I was far from a beauty queen but closer to the nerd stereotype. I became self-conscious when others looked at me and spent hours shedding secret tears.

But the biggest bully I had to face was neither the boys at schools nor any of my acquaintances. No, it was the inner man living in me. It was the voice that said “Look at you! You’re ugly!” It was virtually impossible to convince myself that it’s the inside that counts and bypass the importance of external appearance. After all, who doesn’t want to look good?

Years later, I came to my senses and realized the self-destructive nature of my thoughts and feelings. I understood that not only had I no right to complain to the Creator, but as a creation who am I to say there was a flaw in his creation? That was exactly what I was doing sub-consciously.

And then I knew. It was the knowing that He, the Creator, delights in me; the knowing that comes that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. The assurance that comes from knowing who I am in Christ and that made me emotionally and mentally satisfied, for it is only by his grace that I am what I am (I Corinthians 15:10).

We live in a world that gives the impression that you must look good in order to feel good; but with God, if you feel good inside, you will know you look good!  Our sense of worth shouldn’t derive from our appearance but from our knowledge of who we are in Christ.

Today, I’m free. Free from staring at the mirror and feeling unworthy or rejected. Free from that dreadful voice that used to torment me. From time to time, even if I make a passing remark about my appearance, my husband would remind me that I’m beautiful. And yes, he’s right because as God’s creation, made in his image:

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!