Excerpt from:

Checklist for Life for Teens

Mirror, Mirror

 

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.
—Psalm 139:14 NKJV

You are made in the image of God. Hard to believe? You know what it’s like to look in the mirror and groan at what you see. Sometimes, the longer you look, the worse it gets! It doesn’t help much when your parents tell you that you’re just going through a phase, that even the best-looking kids in school think they’re ugly or dorky or homely. You see every one of your flaws as clearly as if a huge neon arrow was pointing right at them.

In a way, mirrors distort your true image, especially when you’ve trained your eyes to see flaws that aren’t even there. It’s almost as if you’re looking into the wavy mirrors in a funhouse—they pull your body this way and that, squish your features, and turn you into a hideous alien from some remote planet. What you need to do is train your eyes to focus on the incredibly wonderful work of God that’s staring back at you.

What you think are flaws are often features that simply differ from those of the celebrities you see on television and movie screens and billboards and magazine covers. Are those images typical of reality? No. All you have to do is look around you for one day to realize how few people fit that ideal image. Not everyone can—or, if you can believe it, wants to—look like Mandy Moore or Josh Hartnett. That’s a good thing. Think how monotonous and confusing life would be otherwise.

It’s the truth: You are made in the image of God, and He has a never-ending supply of features to draw from. He designed every individual in a unique way, right down to the tiniest detail. You can either get mad at God for that, or you can be grateful to Him for caring so much about the way you turned out. Who else has paid you that much attention? Even if anyone else wanted to, no one else could.

In fact, God seems to enjoy lavishing His attention on those who seldom get any. By today’s standards, Jeremiah was just a kid when God singled him out to be His spokesman. When Jeremiah objected and pointed out all his flaws, God basically told him to chill. David seems to have been the runt of his family’s litter, and he ended up a king. And one Old Testament reference to the Messiah even implies that He—Jesus, that is—wasn’t much to look at.

Instead of obsessing over your image in the mirror, try mirroring the image of Jesus, the one that reflects His character. How would you took if you were compassionate toward others and if you went out of your way to help your parents, showed kindness to your siblings, and treated everyone equally—even the misfits at your school? You’d start to feel pretty good about yourself, and the way you feel about yourself on the inside always shows up on your face.

Just for today, try thinking about yourself as a new creation. Turn the Golden Rule back on yourself: Do unto yourself as you would have others do unto you! Be good to yourself by refusing to think that you’re anything less than terrific. Surround yourself with those friends that make you feel special and significant. Don’t even try on the victim role. Laugh right out loud when the mirror tries to tell you you’re not the fairest—or handsomest—one of all.

Does all this sound vain? Aren’t you supposed to not think all that highly of yourself? Few teenagers, way down deep inside, have a problem with an inflated self-esteem. What the Bible says is that you should not think any more highly of yourself than you ought to. In other words, you need to have an honest, undistorted image of who you are—a unique and cherished person created by the highly creative God. No more than that, of course, but certainly no less than that as well.

Before you were born, God dipped His hand into His limitless well of resources and came up with the precise components He wanted to use to create you. Mirrors do lie, each time they tell you that you’re anything less than the very best God has to offer.

 

I Will…

Yes   No   Believe that I am wonderfully made.

Yes   No   Be thankful for the unique features God has given me.

Yes   No   Base my self-image on the image of God.

Yes   No   Surround myself with friends who accept me as I am.

Yes   No   Understand that my friends are also special to God.

Yes   No   Think positive thoughts about myself.

Yes   No   Question negative feedback from my mirror.

 

Things to Do:

_____ Thank God today for the way He made you.

_____ Read Psalm 139 and really think about what it says.

_____ Make a list of your good features. Ask a trusted friend to add           to the list.

_____ Catch yourself doing something right—and smile about it.

_____ Look in the mirror and tell yourself that you are made in the           image of God.

_____ Ask God to show you how you can accept yourself           completely.

 

Things to Remember:

The Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
—1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV

If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed way; behold, new things have come.
—2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB

To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which he made us accepted in the Beloved.
—Ephesians 1:6 NKJV

Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.
—John 7:24 NKJV

Do not let your adornment be merely outward— arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
—1 Peter 3:3–4 NKJV

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
—Matthew 22:37–39 NKJV

This precious treasure—this light and power that now shine within us—is held in perishable containers, that is, in our weak bodies.
2 Corinthians 4:7 NLT

Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.
—Psalm 119:73 NKJV

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by Myself.”
—Isaiah 44:24 NKJV

The Lord gave me a message. He said, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world.” “O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!”
—Jeremiah 1:4–6 NLT

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