June 1, 2009
God’s Mirror
Today’s Truth
“For as he (a man or woman) thinks within himself, so he is” (Proverbs 23:7 NASB emphases added)
Friend to Friend
Amazingly, when God created man in His own image, He gave us the power of words. He didn’t entrust words with monkeys, zebras, or elephants. He gave words to man. Our words also have creative potential. As a matter-of-fact, the Bible tells us that “death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21 NASB).  Our words become the mirror in which others see themselves. Our words impact children, husbands, friends, and the world. But some of the most powerful words we speak are the ones that no one hears … the words we speak to ourselves.
We can speak life to ourselves and we can speak death to ourselves. Our minds think about 130 words per minute and our mouths (women) speak about 25,000 words in a day. That’s a lot of words! A considerable amount of those words are spoken or thought to ourselves. Most of this self-talk is harmless, such as what will I fix for dinner? or where did I put my hairbrush? But some are very destructive saying, “I’m so stupid,” “I’m such an idiot,” or “I’m never going to be good enough,” can create habitual destructive thought patterns that can paralyze a person into inactivity.
Negative self-perceptions repeated over a time will brand themselves into our minds and eventually become our reality. If you repeat a wrong belief or lie enough times, you begin to believe it. “Nobody loves me,” “I don’t have any friends,” or “I’m so ugly” becomes your reality … even though it is a false reality. You can become stuck in the house of mirrors looking at a distorted reflection of who you really are.
The negative destructive lies of the enemy are like a tar baby. The more you play with it, toy with it, embrace it, the more you get stuck to it. Each time we speak a lie about ourselves, the more we become bound to it. “As [a man] thinks within himself, so he is” (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV)
When we look into God’s mirror, His incredible love letter to us we call the Bible, we discover the truth. God does love you (Colossians 3:12). You have an entire cloud of witnesses cheering for you (Hebrews 12:1). You are God’s masterpiece, a work of beautiful art (Ephesians 2:10). You are good enough because Christ lives in you (John14:20). You are a chosen, holy, dearly loved child of God. That’s the truth. Let’s get out of the house of mirrors and start seeing ourselves as God sees us.
In one of John’s letters, he wrote, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 1:4). I believe that God has no greater joy than to know that His children are walking in the truth. When we are walking in the truth, the lies are exposed. We can recognize the lie, reject the lie, and replace the lie with truth. Then, and only then, can we be all that God has created us to be and do all that God has created us to do. We can experience the abundant life that He planned all along.
I believe God has great plans for all of us.  His Word promises that He does. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).  But many of us are not experiencing the abundant life because we don’t know who we are.  We have believed the lies that we are not good enough, unloved, unworthy, and unforgivable. We have been looking in distorted mirrors for far too long. God wants us to look into the only true mirror that will tell us exactly who we are, what we have, and where we are as a child of God — His Word. It is the key to living the victorious Christian life.
Let’s Pray
Dear Heavenly Father, so many times I speak words that are not true about who I am. I pray for the conviction of the Holy Spirit to stop me from speaking negative words about myself to myself. Help me to speak the truth as found in Your Word. Help me to begin seeing myself as You see me — a chosen, holy, dearly loved child of Yours who is empowered by the Holy Spirit and enveloped by Jesus Christ.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Today, pay attention to the words you speak to yourself. They don’t have to be said aloud. Think about the words you even think to yourself about yourself.
Would God agree with what you are saying? Do the words line up with what God says about you as His redeemed and empowered child? If you’d like to comment on today’s devotion, visit Sharon’s blog at http://localhost/sjold/blog/.
More From The Girlfriends
It is time to start believing the truth. It is time to hear God say, “You are my daughter, whom I love; with you, I am well pleased. Are you ready to walk out of the house of mirrors once and for all? Are you ready to begin seeing yourself as God sees you? Are you ready to begin living the abundant life that God planned all along? Then you’ll want to read Sharon’s book, I’m Not Good Enough…and Other Lies Women Tell Themselves.Â
Comments 15
Thank you so much for God’s mirror. God is so good! Today I am running for senior president, and all week I have been comparing my self to my opposing candidate. She was prom queen, tiny and petite, a cheer leader, and very charismatic. So you can see what kind of thoughts I had towards my self, being a pure, unpartying, christian girl. this morning all I was doing was trashing my self, and had asumed I would loose. But for some reason God told me to look up devotions on google at school, and He placed your website in front of me. Thank you. Now I know whether I win or loose, it’s up to Him, and I will still be the child that God some how loves. Have a God-filled day! -Chloe
I got this through Girlfriends in God this morning and they were the words I NEEDED to hear this morning. Now onto replacing those negative thoughts and words that have so paralyzed me. Much of my life is shambles b/c of those negative thoughts that have tangled themselves around me. Today I will choose to bathe in Scriptures that tell me who I REALLY am.
Bless you,
Penny
Thank you for this word, God’s Mirror. I have been struggling with marital issues and often found myself downing myself. But after reading this devotional I know now that I am what God says I am, and I can do what God says I can do. I needed this so much. Often times I find myself thinking negative thoughts which do not give God glory in whom I say that I am. But after today and reading this, I declare that my thoughts will be positive and true. I know God will and can answer and I belive that I am just who he says I am. Fearfully and wonderfully made. No matter what I have been through he has forgivemn me. Thank you so much.
Wow! What a great devotion. It’s so easy to speak negative thoughts to oneself. I was doing that very thing when my sister sent me this devotion. I pray that every woman, young and old, would look into the true mirror – God’s WORD — and see themselves as they truly are.
I just read that in your new book!! I agree about the need to look through God’s Mirror. Because us, the enemy, and the world all want to tell us something. Unfortunately those things can all be untruthful. But God is always truthful and always tell the truth! Your devotions have been nothing but a blessing. I am so glad I started reading Girlfriend’s in God and reading your books! Have fun being “A Woman Who Listens to God” today!!
Thank you for the great reminder of our thoughts and words. God has been working on me for a couple of months now in this area. I am getting better, I will now catch myself before it comes out of my mouth. Now need to work on those thoughts though.
This devotion is great for individuals and for parents of children, as a parent of two teenagers I realize the negative things my kids say and try to remind them of who they are in Christ. I also have to watch my words around them and to them as well. Children live by example and see themselves as others see them. We are all beautifully and wonderfully made.
I have often lived in the negative Hall of Mirrors myself and try every day to see myself reflected as God sees me. Realizing the power of words, I now try to take every chance I get to speak the love of God and the awesomeness of who each of my grandchildren are, into their lives. As grandma I just ignore the obvious negative things and tell them each time I can, how wonderful they are, that they have gifts and talents and that God loves them. I especially try to speak positive words when they are down or something is wrong. At the end of a visit, after the goodbyes, I always try to remember to call out, ‘God bless you and watch over you and use you for His glory’. I began doing that many years ago with my children after something happened which made me think, “What would they remember if they never saw me again.” Kids don’t listen to preaching, they see your life. I want to plant God into my children and grandchildren. I want to place His mirror before them. Thank you and bless you for this wonderful encouragement that I actually take time to read in my busy day.
Sharon, thanks for these thoughts. All of us live in the realm of lies that we can do things in our own power and be like God. I watched the movie Spirit last night with my son believing it to be of value when the truth is it was garbage. It is set up like Dick Tracy but has tons of using God’s name in vane and characters trying to be like God…what a sad state our world is in today. We all need to remember that everyone is affected by these lies and they are still the same today. All of us as parents mess up and need to work on putting positive words into the soul of our children. I believe we need 3 to 5 positives for every negative. I know that I have to surrender to almost daily all of my worries and cares about not measuring up and helping my children. It is so easy to try to do it our way instead of God’s way and I struggled with this all through the night. Being independent is good but it can interfere with our relationship with God. We all impact lives especially children in our homes, work, or role modeling…some little eyes are always watching.
I received this on girlfriends in God,and I really needed to hear it,you see I’m so lonely and long for the Lord to send me a good godly man to share my life with,and temptation came through today in the form of a married man,I know I cant do that but sometimes I get so lonely that I just wish God would send me a man that wants to serve Him wholeheartedly and would be good for me.Anyway the Lord has done so very much for me and my family,I will testify if you write me back and want to hear it,I want to write a book someday.Thank you for listening.Virginia
Wonderful! I really did not think about this topic before from your point of view. But now I am thinking about your idea. I’ve also discussed with my friends about your post.
Just when I thought I had read every idea on this topic, you gave me a lot to think about with your insightful ideas. Thanks.
You make valid points in your article, many of which I agree with. Some I will have contemplate. That just means you made me think.
Not too many writers could make this material interesting, but you managed it. I enjoyed reading your thoughts and ideas. I agree with much of what you have written here.
This is helpful, thanks for the post man…
Sharron is coming to my city next month so naturally i went to her website.
I found this blog and it was what i needed to hear.
as someone with a disability i’m always comparing my self to others. i have struggled with negative self talk for most of my life because i believed i was unworthy and not wanted for most of my life. even now as an adult i still struggle with it.
this post made me realize how dangerous this is and that i need to believe what God says about me is true and not to believe the lies that satin puts in my head.