Clouded Vision

When I was a little kid, I remember visiting a fair where there was a house of mirrors. Each one was made to distort the reflection. One made me look short and wide, turning a skinny kid into a fat one! Another made me very tall and thin, a scarecrow. One made my head look twice its normal size. It was fascinating and disorienting.  What did I really look like?  Growing older, I learned that I needed to correct another image of myself, created from the feedback I absorbed from people around me. Navigating the teen years was tough because, just as in the house of distorted mirrors, I was picking up distorted reflections about my identity. Who was I really? Good, bad, smart, stupid, attractive, ugly? It was hard to figure out!

Who am I?
The question begs an answer if we hope to live as a holy and whole follower of Christ. The answer is often clouded by false guilt or bad teaching. Our own emotional state distorts self-image, too. When I am exhausted I don’t see myself clearly. Fear, anger, and sorrow can mess with my mind, too. That is why there is only one place to go for the Truth, where we learn the answers about ourselves that we can trust.

The first assessment is that, apart from God, I am a sinner! “There is no one righteous, not even one; … All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)  I want to protest, to justify myself, to excuse or ignore my flaws and failures. That mirror’s reflection is one I would prefer to ignore, but I must not if I hope to come to the Truth.

The next fact is that I am loved! "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8, NIV) There is hope!

Then, comes this declaration. I am a unique child of God! "But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)" (Ephesians 2:4-5, NLT)  "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God." (Ephesians 2:8, NLT) "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:10, NLT) I am a person of incredible worth to my Creator!

A person cannot function well in the world with a broken identity. Those who see themselves through deceptive or lying mirrors will respond to the image they see and their choices will be all wrong. Those who understand what is true, who are honest and authentic about themselves as God sees them, are on the way to wholeness and joy.

Here’s a word from the Word. May you read it and see with clear vision just who you are in Christ Jesus.

"Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does." (James 1:21-25, NIV)