What’s the first thing you notice when you see a picture of yourself? Probably not your eyes or that smile everyone thinks is beautiful. Instead, we focus on our flaws, then try and cover them. The obsession with hiding imperfections covers what others see, but the filtered image never brings healing – to ourselves or others.
The profile picture on my Facebook page was well over a year old so it was past time for an update. No better time than New Years to upload a fresh professional head shot. Taken at work by a brilliant photographer who took a little artistic liberty, I compared the image to the one that looks back at me in the mirror and noticed he touched up a few things for this image conscious girl.
Image conscious
Goodness knows I need a few things touched up, but ironically he left the bags under my eyes I’ve toted around since I was a kid. You see, that’s the first thing I notice when I see a picture of myself. Now I don’t mind those creases at the corners my eyes, because they were earned by a lifetime of laughter. Thankfully, the parallel grooves between my heartbroken eyes were erased by technology. How I wish I could actually smooth those away, along with the tears that caused them!
My life was set crooked by the weakening disease that elevates one of my eyebrows. Seems the photographer couldn’t edit that out, neither can I edit out the collateral damage that followed.
“A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.” Proverbs 15:13 (NLT)
Obvious scars
In person, you’d see the wear and tear on my neck. A fine line from a surgeon’s slice through young skin nestled up to a puckered incision made on skin with less elasticity to recover. In this picture, it’s edited smooth which makes my neck look a little off-center. Aesthetically it’s better than the real version of me, but I earned those scars and endured their pain. Each one is part of my story.
‘Cause my brokeness brought me to You
And these wounds are stories you’ll use
So I’m thankful for the scars
‘Cause without them I wouldn’t know Your heart
And I know they’ll always tell of who You are
So forever I am thankful for the scars
lyrics from “Scars” by I am They
Hiding imperfections
Most of the time, we don’t want anyone to see our scars, much less the pain behind them. We filter out imperfections but can never fix the hurt and feelings of not enough. Although the airbrushed picture is better than reality, reality remains unchanged.
“Hear my cry, O God.” Psalm 61:1 (NIV)
My survival story
So gone are the lines of agony between my eyes and the uneven topography on my neck, as if you didn’t want to see it. But why not? My life is no more perfect than my face. The pain endured is part of who I am – my survival story. These are battle scars of hard fought victory. And yes, I fought for them, but the Lord stood by my side and gave me strength. So it’s time to look at His reflection, not mine.
Quit looking in the mirror
A dear Facebook reader posted her word of the year on my Facebook page:
REFLECTION… I want to live so closely to Him, that I am moved out of the way, so others will see HIM, not me or my achievements, but HIS reflection through me
You see, His reflection in me doesn’t have anything to do with my efforts or my flaws – either physical or spiritual. When Prednisone distorted my face and made me want to put a sack over my head, feeling beautiful came only from spending time with the One who loves me unconditionally with a perfect love.
“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27 (ESV)
The hope of glory
What imperfections are you hiding? Uncover the real you and let others see the reflection of God’s love and acceptance. Not just on the outside, but on the inside too.
As you can see, my Facebook followers are full of wisdom, if you don’t already follow, click here to visit. I would love to hear from you too.
Photo cred: Steve Newby
“Feeling beautiful came only from spending time with the One who loves me unconditionally with a perfect love.” — I love that. ♥
I have always struggled with self image. I wore corrective shoes until 6th grade, have an over bite and a peculiar name. It wasn’t until I realized how much effort God put into knitting me in my mother’s womb did I hold my head up high and smile without covering my mouth. I’m older now with my own battle scars but I wear them well.
Scars, not perfection, make us beautiful