The Truth in a Reflection

None of my coworkers like having their photo taken. We have that in common. A former colleague, who was a little more outgoing than the rest of us, would often volunteer our department for projects that involved a camera or video. Needless to say, when she’d look for volunteers, there were none to be found. We all found plenty of reasons to be too busy to step in front of the camera. Five minutes of fame was something none of us were in need of. 

I found myself thinking about that lately. If someone asked me why I didn’t like having my photo taken, I don’t really know what my answer would be. At this point, I’ve spent so many years being photo-averse that it’s second nature now. Nonetheless, my thoughts centered on what we see in photos. They aren’t just memories for some of us, right? We see every possible imperfection and we don’t want it recorded for all time in the family photo album! Some of those photos trigger memories we don’t want retriggered. Some may even be related to parts of our history that was as imperfect as we were.

That’s a similar experience for some of us when we find ourselves gazing in the mirror. This experience resonates with me the most, since, for the most part, I’ve been able to avoid a camera lens. I know my skin better than most and can identify when a problem has surfaced or, in some cases, resurfaced. That’s usually when I make a trip to my dermatologist. On one of my most recent visits, I was seen by a practitioner who had nothing but great things to say about my skin. She even pointed out that it was the first thing she noticed when she saw me for the first time. This is still so funny to me because I was only in the office because of the imperfections!

That’s how life comes at us at times. We just might be doing really well. But, in our minds, we have a clear picture of what “well” looks like and we are not meeting that standard. So we think. Years ago, there was a woman in my church that would sing a song about being too close to the mirror and that’s what I think about when I experience those moments of inferiority. Sometimes, the flaws seem innumerable. There is not nearly enough time to fix each one. This is what leads many of us down that path of wondering how we can be someone that a perfect God can love and use for his glory.

Times like this are an excellent time to take a glance at some of the bible stories and recognize that there really is no one too flawed for God to love. Not when you love him in return, flaws and all. A perfect God loving an imperfect people is the foundation of unconditional love. It’s a struggle for some of us to learn how to love and value others because we haven’t quite grasped how to love ourselves. When we learn to love what God loves, then we should know that it starts with us. Gideon is often one of the top examples when thinking about this topic. What his story shows us is that whether we are the least or the greatest, our purpose should always be God’s purpose. Love falls into that category simply because I can not allow hatred of what God loves to root in me. While we need to be careful to check our pride, we also need to be careful not to allow fear and shame to become obstacles to what God wants to do in our lives.  

Love what God Loves

John 15:12