Self Image

It was an early morning.
I needed to go to the car shop to get my inspection stickers replaced.
The old ones were cut out when the new windshield was installed the other day.

I offered to drive my daughter to high school since my son had the car they share.
I left the house at 7:00 in the morning.
I didn’t get a chance to walk and knew that the day would be busy.

I brought a book to read while I was waiting for my car.
My appointment was at 7:30.
I left the car shop a little after 8:00 and headed off to the grocery store.

Since I get up before 5:00 every day, mornings start very early for me.
How I love the mornings!
Admit that to a person who is not fond of mornings and watch their reaction!
I was dressed and ready for the day…but hadn’t looked in a mirror since 6:00am.

I got in my car…put on some “roll down the windows” kind of music from my college days.
Blue sky…not a cloud visible…high 60’s…perfect weather!
I glanced in the rear view mirror and fixed my hair while I was at a red light.

I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye.
I glanced over and saw a tiny car…which looked more like a toy car than a real one.
The driver had his window down, gave me a thumbs up sign, and said, Looking good!
He smiled…the light turned green..and he drove away.

It made me laugh.
I found myself smiling all the way down the road.

There is a video, presented by Dove soap, called Real Beauty Sketches.
A forensic artist is in a large room, sitting at a drafting board.
A woman comes in and sits behind a curtain.
The artist and the woman never see each other.

The artist talks to the woman behind the curtain.
Tell me about your hair…what is it like?
Tell me about your chin…
Tell me about your jaw…
What is your most prominent feature?

As the conversation proceeds, the woman realizes that the artist is drawing her.
He is drawing her according to her own answers about her appearance.

The woman was told to talk and be friendly with another woman while they were waiting.
That’s all..no other instructions were given.

That “other” person was brought in, and sat behind the curtain.
The artist asked this person the same things he had asked the first woman.
However, the questions were not about themselves.
He was asking them to describe the woman they talked to while waiting.
He began to draw their responses.

The answers to the artist’s prompts were vastly different.
They didn’t seem to be describing the same person.
The “friend” in the waiting room was far kinder in their description of the woman.
They saw the woman very positively.

Both portraits were hung side by side.
The woman came back in and viewed her portraits, with the artist standing beside her.
There were tears as she saw the way she described herself.
The image she had of herself was very opposite of the image someone else had of her.

The last frame of the video says it all.
You are more beautiful than you think.

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth in God’s sight.
(1 Peter 3:3,4)

Our self-image tends to be wrapped up in the way other people see us.
Our self-image tends to be formed by things that people have said to us through the years.
Our self-image is really not a “self” image…but an “other” image.
It tends to color everything.

What power we have in our words!
As parents, we positively or negatively influence our children’s self image.
The littlest thing, said as an afterthought, can stay with them for a lifetime.

We need to remind those we love of their beauty.
We need to make sure they know that they are beautiful inside and out!

Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
(Psalm 34:5)

True beauty comes from the Lord.
The person has a radiance…an inexpressible “something”.
The person exudes beauty because they exude Christ.

It is an undeniable beauty.
It is a captivating beauty because it is real…not enhanced…not artificial.

Our self-image needs to be wrapped up in what God thinks of us.

One day we will be prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her Husband.
(Revelation 21:2)

We are that Bride.
God sees us as beautiful…now.
We are more beautiful than we think.
All because of Him!

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View the Dove True Beauty Sketches video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpaOjMXyJGk