Many of us have a marred self-image for various reasons. One contributing factor is the message we receive daily through the media. It continuously reinforces the erroneous belief that if our bodies are not perfect we are not worthwhile. My husband’s Canadian cousin, Rev. Ernie Johns, is a retired minister. He speaks of our image problems in one of his sermons, “The Eternal Atoning Love.”
The ancient Greeks told a story about the dangers of self-love. Narcissus was a beautiful young man who fell helplessly in love with his own image. Being the son of the River God, he would sit gazing at himself in the water unable to take an interest in anything else. There are two endings to the story. In one version, he turns into a flower. This is the optimistic one. In the other, he kills himself after reaching into the water to touch himself and blurring the image. He could not stand his own distorted image.
The latter ending speaks to our addictions to the self where in trying to make ourselves feel better, when we find our dream world disrupted, we repeat the same actions over and over again. We imbibe too much alcohol, try an opiate drug again and again and run off to the casino to show we are a winner not a loser. Addicts die the slow death because of their marred self-image.
Rev. Johns stressed the problems created by a marred self-image. Our inability to maintain a healthy life-style is sometimes the result of our low self-image. We put ourselves down with negative words and thoughts, which lead to negative actions of self-destruction so we, too, die the slow death.
When we look into the mirror and see who we really are – a child of the Almighty God of the Universe – our desire to appreciate and care for ourselves will blossom. When we look into the mirror and remember what God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26) then we will know beyond a shadow of a doubt how valuable we are. We are “…fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14)
Saint Augustine said: “Men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty billows of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean and the circuits of the stars, and pass themselves by.” May we not pass ourselves by, but peer into our souls for a vision of our true worth and all God intends us to be. When that vision penetrates our souls, it sets us free to love ourselves – not with a self-serving love, but with a healthy respect for God’s amazing creation.
What do we see when we look in a mirror? Do we see an image that has been marred by self-abuse or self-love? Or do we see what God sees? We need to ask God’s mirror the same question that was asked in the story of Snow White: “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” God’s immediate response will be, “All of them. I love each one as deeply as the other!”
PRAYER
I thank you, High God – you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration – what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. ~ Psalm 139:14-15 (MSG)