We can have a tendency to look in the mirror and wish we were someone else.
We can look at someone else and wonder what it would take to be more like them.
We can strive to be more like them and perpetually live with a lack of satisfaction.
We are not satisfied because we know that we have really become an imposter.
For some of us, it’s a lifelong struggle.
The 12-year-old isn’t the only age where people struggle with their identity.
We don’t necessarily graduate from envying the life of another when we complete high school.
But, here’s the thing; You were never ever supposed to look in the mirror and wish you were someone else.
This is often where the voice of the Enemy ramps up for a lot of people.
We are drawn to our inadequacies.
We magnify our flaws.
We analyze all of our deficiencies.
And in no way, shape, or form is that how God views us, sees us, or looks at us.
So, in a very real way, we begin listening to the wrong voice.
We stop seeing ourselves the way that God sees us.
As much as I want to say that I am writing this with my four daughters in mind, that’s not the extent of it.
Of course, nothing is more important to me than for my girls to see themselves the way that God sees them, to find their value in who God says they are, and to recognize their worth in what Jesus has done for them.
Yet, what I know is that this way of seeing ourselves is not limited to young girls. It’s everybody: Girls. Boys. Women. Men.
All the Enemy has to do is convince us that we are not very valuable.
If the Enemy can convince us that we are not very valuable, then we will begin to think that we lack worth.
If we begin to think that we lack worth, then we will always question if we are loved, even by the people that tell us that they love us.
If we question that we are loved, then we will discount what Jesus has done for us.
We will wonder if His love is as fickle as our love.
We will diminish the value of His sacrifice on the cross because we don’t think we are worth much anyway.
That’s all the Enemy has to do: just convince us to look in the mirror and wish we were someone else.
Don’t listen to the lies.
You were created by God and for God.
You have an incredible purpose.
You are who God has made you to be.
Don’t dismiss His sacrifice.
Dwell on the truth that Jesus gave up His life for you, because He loves you, values you, and desires for you to spend eternity with Him.
Don’t strive to be like, live like, or look like them.
Strive to be loved by Jesus.
Strive to love Jesus.
Strive to love like Jesus.
-Sterling
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