A few months ago, in a small group with some women from my church, my
pastor’s wife asked us a question: If you stood in front of a mirror, would you
be able to look at your reflection and say, “I love you”?
As I thought about that, I thought about Christ and his love for me. Can I look at myself and love myself the way that Christ loves me? No way! Not even close. There is nothing that I can do that will make God love me any more. There’s also nothing I can do that will make him love me any less. It’s completely and utterly unconditional. And I don’t extend that kind of love to myself.
So here’s how my conversation with my reflection would go: “Hey. So, like, I love you. Really, I do. But... you need to lose a few pounds. And be more easy going. And play outside with your kids more. And read your bible more. And stop saying you’re going to clean behind the refrigerator and actually do it. And all that other stuff that you procrastinate over. Oh, and stop falling asleep without kissing your husband goodnight. Also I wish you had different hair. And your old boobs. But, I mean, I still love you.”
How horrible does that sound? But you know what’s worse? That’s actually only a fraction of my list.
But the truth is, we all do it. We all have a list of what we believe are faults and we hold them against ourselves, believing that we would love ourselves more if we could just eliminate our faults.
What if we decided to love ourselves no matter what? What if we looked in the mirror and saw ourselves with Christ’s eyes?
Could you say to yourself “You know, you may never lose those 10 pounds. And you might never be as easy going as your best friend. And even if you die and someone finds a pacifier under your fridge and your GRANDCHILDREN are all grown, I will STILL LOVE YOU. Just as much as I would if you completed your entire list of accomplishments and could sit around all day doing nothing because you are FINALLY PERFECT.”
Could you imagine? Ahhhh, perfection. Isn’t that what we’re after?
You and I both know that we are expecting far too much of ourselves.
So I think it’s about time we start to offer ourselves some massive helpings of this little thing called GRACE.
It’s the only way we can even begin to come close to loving ourselves how Christ loves us.
pastor’s wife asked us a question: If you stood in front of a mirror, would you
be able to look at your reflection and say, “I love you”?
As I thought about that, I thought about Christ and his love for me. Can I look at myself and love myself the way that Christ loves me? No way! Not even close. There is nothing that I can do that will make God love me any more. There’s also nothing I can do that will make him love me any less. It’s completely and utterly unconditional. And I don’t extend that kind of love to myself.
So here’s how my conversation with my reflection would go: “Hey. So, like, I love you. Really, I do. But... you need to lose a few pounds. And be more easy going. And play outside with your kids more. And read your bible more. And stop saying you’re going to clean behind the refrigerator and actually do it. And all that other stuff that you procrastinate over. Oh, and stop falling asleep without kissing your husband goodnight. Also I wish you had different hair. And your old boobs. But, I mean, I still love you.”
How horrible does that sound? But you know what’s worse? That’s actually only a fraction of my list.
But the truth is, we all do it. We all have a list of what we believe are faults and we hold them against ourselves, believing that we would love ourselves more if we could just eliminate our faults.
What if we decided to love ourselves no matter what? What if we looked in the mirror and saw ourselves with Christ’s eyes?
Could you say to yourself “You know, you may never lose those 10 pounds. And you might never be as easy going as your best friend. And even if you die and someone finds a pacifier under your fridge and your GRANDCHILDREN are all grown, I will STILL LOVE YOU. Just as much as I would if you completed your entire list of accomplishments and could sit around all day doing nothing because you are FINALLY PERFECT.”
Could you imagine? Ahhhh, perfection. Isn’t that what we’re after?
You and I both know that we are expecting far too much of ourselves.
So I think it’s about time we start to offer ourselves some massive helpings of this little thing called GRACE.
It’s the only way we can even begin to come close to loving ourselves how Christ loves us.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
But he said to me,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
That is why, for Christ’s sake,
I delight in weaknesses,
in insults,
in hardships,
in persecutions,
in difficulties.
For when I am weak,
then I am strong.
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