Seeing Yourself Through God’s Eyes

This beautiful essay, “Seeing Yourself Through God’s Eyes,” by Traci Shnider, will warm your heart. By seeing ourselves through God’s eyes, we escape Satan’s snares.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, let God define my all in all. Traci Shnider #beauty #Godsees #comparison

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Seeing Yourself Through God’s Eyes

All eyes were staring at me, waiting to see who I’d choose. My teacher asked me to pick a “friend” to show me around school for the day since I was a new student. Surveying the girls in the room, I picked a brown-haired girl three rows over with a pretty face and a nice smile.

Despite wearing glasses, having three awkward cowlicks in my hair, and a face dotted with teenage acne, I possessed confident self-esteem. And I just knew she and I were on our way to becoming great friends for my seventh-grade year. But the glaring look she gave me shot my dream down fast.

After class, she made it clear she was certainly not interested in spending the day with me. Deciding to relinquish her from her “friend” duty for the day, I walked down the hall alone realizing how poorly I chose and thought, I must not have been pretty enough to be her friend.

As adults, we are not in the middle school classroom anymore, but how often are we hanging out in the “online classroom” of social media? The place where we see all our pretty friends and the enemy’s device of comparison tricks us into believing that we are not one of them.

Or how about when we measure ourselves against other women in the workplace, our neighborhood, the gym, or even inside the church? And when we feel overlooked or uninvited, our human tendency tells us if we were prettier or in better physical shape our lives would be more fulfilling.

Instead of holding our heads high, we quickly hide in crowds and lower our gaze to avoid eye contact with those around us. At the end of the day, we find ourselves staring at our reflection in the mirror and measuring our beauty and worth against the perception of others: Mirror, mirror on the wall, let rejection and comparison tell me my flaws.

Without any thought, we slowly trade the abundant life Jesus came to give in exchange for the lies and deception of Satan. With each word of negative self-talk, we weigh ourselves down with an awkward shame concerning our bodies.

Jesus tells us Satan comes to “steal and kill and destroy” and that’s precisely what he does with his weapon of comparison. He steals our self-confidence, kills our joy, and destroys the progress of our purpose for God’s Kingdom. (John 10:10 NLT)

So, how do you escape Satan’s entangling snare and find your self-confidence?

Learn to see yourself through the eyes of the only One who matters.

Discovering your beauty and worth through God’s eyes involves discovering how He sees you, so let’s unpack a few verses.

“Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.’” Genesis 1:26a (NLT) Knowing we are created in the image of God puts criticizing our appearance into a whole new perspective. When we degrade ourselves, we are degrading His creative handiwork.

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” Psalm 139:13-14 (ESV) God took great care in creating us with His very hands and His work is “wonderful”. Try imagining His fingerprints etched upon your body the next time you look at yourself.

Read Proverbs 31:10-27 (NLT). Don’t let it go unnoticed the list of attractive attributes describing the “virtuous woman” stem from her actions and character. Never once was her outward beauty mentioned because our beauty is embodied in who we are as we reflect God’s character.

God wants you to gaze at the girl in the mirror and fully see what a beautiful, one-of-a-kind soul you are. He longs for you to recognize real beauty is Him shaping your heart into the heart of Christ. My dear, you are loved, known, seen, cherished, and valued.

And just think what the world would look like if we could all behold our reflection and say. . . Mirror, mirror on the wall, let God define my all in all.

PRAYER

Father, help us escape the muck and yuck of our insecurities. Teach us to diffuse the enemy’s tricks and realize our true beauty and worth are found in You and You alone. Give us the strength to hold our heads high and throw off the weights of rejection, comparison, and shame. Lead us in silencing the voices of the world and instead listen for Your voice, the Source for living out the abundant life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

MEET OUR AUTHOR, TRACI SHNIDER

Traci is a writer and encourager of all things Jesus. As a young teen, she became a Christian, yet it was not until later in life that she cultivated a deep, intimate relationship with Him. This is why she is passionate about encouraging others to deeply root themselves in Jesus, grow in His grace, and bloom into the purpose He’s designed specifically for them.

Traci currently resides on the beautiful North Carolina coast with her husband of 27 years, their son, and a quirky little terrier. In her free time, you’ll catch her writing at the beach, taking walks, cooking and baking, playing games, volunteering at church, and spending time with family, friends, and, of course, Jesus. You can find more of Traci’s writing on her blog website, www.tracishnider.com, on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TraciShniderBlogger/, or follow her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/traci_shnider/.

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