Mirror, Mirror

Anyone who listens to the word (God's Word) but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.  

James 1:22-25

Do you forget what you look like? I do.  

In fact, I don't even think I have any reality to what I look like.  Someone told me last night, "Good job, Julie!  You look so good!"  And my response was, "Really?  Is it noticeable?"  

I wasn't looking for additional compliments.  I really don't see it.  I look in the mirror and am hard pressed to see the physical changes.  Oh, I know they are there because I've seen the pictures from where I started to where I was even two weeks ago.  But, I am truly like the man who looks at himself in the mirror and then walks away and forgets what he looks like.  I understand that person.

The thing is, our outward bodies are somewhat forgettable.  Recently, I was reading Francis Chan's book, "Crazy Love."  He said something like, do you realize that in 100 years there will probably be no one left on this earth that will have known you or that even remembers you?  That puts some things into perspective.  We work so hard to please others and gain the approval of men--and yet, after this life and the life of our children and maybe our grandchildren...no one will know us or remember us.  Our life is truly that fleeting.  Like walking past the mirror and catching a glimpse...only to walk away and have that image gone and no lasting memory of it.

I wrote about "perspective" before, but it merits writing about it again (and probably again, and again, and again!).  I'm going to go ahead and throw some numbers out today.  Because, who really cares and I'm not fooling anyone anyway...

When I first went to Weight Watchers, I guess about 10 years ago now, I weighed in at 252 pounds.  I was MORTIFIED.  That was the heaviest I had ever been.  I could barely stand myself.  I was motivated to make a change, but my self-loathing over "that" number only made me want to eat a giant donut.

I still say that 252 is "the heaviest I've ever been" because I will never forget the moment I stepped on that scale and faced that number.  252 is NOT the heaviest I've ever been, because I started this journey with Take Shape for Life weighing a dead-even 300 pounds.  YIKES!  If you do the math, that now puts me at 257 pounds.  Still 5 pounds away from "the heaviest I've ever been."  But I'm so proud of that number now.  I feel thankful to God for it, instead of cursed by it like I had in the past. 

We can't judge who we are or even how we feel about ourselves, based on a number.  Sorry.  We just can't.  We can't even base it on an image.  How many times have you looked at a picture of yourself and thought, "Man!  I look huge!!!" and then you see that same picture a few years later and think, "I'd give anything to look that good again!!!"  

The man who looks in the mirror cannot be trusted.  He will forget what he looks like.

There is only one reliable way to measure how we look.  It's God's Word.  How does God define beauty and loveliness?

That is not to counter the need to lose weight and to look and feel better--to be healthy for the glory of God!  But, just to say--my perspective of myself cannot be trusted.  It will never be accurate.  Nor will others' perspective of me.  There is only One perspective that is trustworthy.  

And in the end, it's STILL not about a number.