Identity Theft…Mugged by the Mirror
Are you at risk of having your identity Mugged by the Mirror
Know what God Knows
See how God sees
Love who God Loves
Reflect God’s Glory
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Good morning.
We are continuing our series this morning called Identity Theft
Last week we spoke about how we can be Robbed by our relationships when we look for our identity, look for who we are, in the midst of our human relationships.
This morning we are going to be talking about how we can be mugged by the mirror if we seek our identity in our outward appearance and what we can do to overcome that.
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True Beauty
Recently there was a reality TV show called True Beauty looking for America’s most beautiful person.
But what they didn’t tell the contestants was that they were not only measuring outward beauty but also inner beauty.
They would secretly tape these individuals in situations where they could see if they were beautiful on the inside or just the outside.
They would tape conversations that they had talking about the other contestants.
They would put them in situations where they would either
show compassion to someone else or
just seek to further their own agenda.
There would be opportunities to just be a good citizen or not.
It was so sad to see many of these “beautiful people” so wrapped up in their outward appearance that they could not even see the ugliness of their lives on the inside.
And I am sure that all of us have run into people that were like this and perhaps we have been this person.
High School
I remember being in High School my Freshmen year.
It is kind of nerve racking that first day of school. I remember going to my first class and seeing who was in my class and seeing this one girl who I thought was just gorgeous.
Well as I went throughout my day, I found that she was in all but 1 or 2 of my classes.
I was thinking to myself, this is going to be a great year.
Now this is well before I was a Christian.
Well, anyway, as the year progressed, I got to know this girl a little better and she was so full of herself and so stuck up that it actually changed the way that I saw her.
When I saw her, I did not see this outwardly beautiful person, but this person that actually became somewhat ugly to me, because what was inside her was coming out.
She may have spent a lot of time working on her outside appearance, but it appeared she spent no time working on what she was on the inside and it really affected how people saw her.
On the flip side, I am sure that many of us have seen people who don’t possess the most cosmetically appealing appearances, but have a beauty that radiates from within that really makes them attractive.
Even though we probably know these things in our head, as we face the mirror, I believe many of us still think to ourselves,
How do other people see me?
Do they think I am ugly?
Do they think I am fat?
Will other people like what they see when they look at me?
We should take care of ourselves
Now, everyone of us wants to look good. That is not a bad thing. We should strive to take care of ourselves. In fact I believe it is proper and godly to care for this temple that the Lord has given us.
But there is a difference between caring for ourselves and our bodies and desiring to change ourselves from who God created us to be solely because we think we will be happier.
If the shape of my face were different, I would be happier
If I had longer legs, I would be happier
If I had a smaller nose, my life would be better.
If I had bigger muscles, girls would like me and I would be happy.
If I were more outwardly attractive, my problems would be solved!
If we are thinking that, we are being mugged by the mirror.
It is hard for any of us to escape this type of thinking because it seems that our whole world system pushes the idea that outward beauty makes life better.
We see it in advertising
We see it in the products that are put forth, (make up and hair care products) We can even see it in the toys that are manufactured.
Barbie
Look at the dolls that kids play with today.
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Barbie dolls have been around since 1959 and Barbie is thin and tall and stylish.
Now I don’t want to put Barbie down, but if Barbie were human, with the length of her legs compared to her body, she would have to be about 7 feet tall and if her torso were really that small, she would have to have about 4 fewer ribs and she would be missing several essential organs.
But many women still look at Barbie as the pinnacle of what beauty is.
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Fashion Magazines
But even as women grow up, it is hard to escape this view. Open up a fashion magazine and see models who are ultra skinny and seem to have perfect skin, and who look so happy, and it becomes hard not to think that if you just looked better, life would be better.
Victoria’s Secret
Walk through a shopping mall, walk by the Victoria’s Secret store and see mannequins and pictures that produce the same type of unrealistic body that Barbie portrays.
Guys - Muscles
For guys we think that having some bigger “guns” (arms) is going to make us more likable. As we go and work out, and curl those 70 pound dumb bells (ok, 25 pound dumb bells) we think, “Yeah, I am getting ripped!”
Until that guy walks up next to you and is bench pressing 300 pounds and then you are just feeling ripped off!
Or you’re standing there when someone walks up with “6 pack” abs and there you stand with your 2-litre abs!
Every one of us is being fed this lie that life is better if we were just prettier or beefed up.
We are in danger of being mugged by the mirror if we believe the lie that changing our outward appearance is going to be the answer to make our life better.
Caution -
Now I want you to realize that there is nothing inherently bad about desiring to look good. But we need to always assess the reasons we want to alter our outward appearance and be cautious with the methods.
We have many people in our culture who get so deceived that they can become anorexic or bulimic or turn to drugs like steroids thinking these will make them look they way they have been deceived into thinking will make them prettier or in better shape or just plain happier.
If we want to lose weight to be healthier, by all means go on a diet.
If we want to be in better shape to have more energy, by all means, work out.
But
if we think we need to do these things for other people to like or love us or
that if we could just change our outward appearance to be
thinner, stronger, more shapely, and that simply doing that will make us happier and living a better life , we are being mugged by the mirror.
How do we overcome this in this world obsessed with outward appearance?
How do we avoid being mugged by the mirror?
Well, to avoid being “Mugged by the Mirror, here are a few secrets to victory or what we might call Victorious Secrets (I stole this from Mike Breaux)
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These are some truths that we find in God’s word that will help us to find our true identity in Christ and to avoid being Mugged by the Mirror.
First, to avoid being mugged by the mirror, we need to
Know what God Knows
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Turn with me to Psalm 139:13-16.
I want to read to you a Psalm of David that expresses some things that God knows that He wants us to know.
David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says:
Psalm 139:13-16
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Ok, as we read this Scripture one of the things that you need to know is that
You were created to be You! (v. 139:13-16a)
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Listen to some of those verses again.
He knit you together.
It tells us that you were fearfully and wonderfully made.
What these verses are saying is that you were not some mistake.
God knew what He was doing even before you were born and He was making you to be you.
And while God has given you the earthly tent that you live in, the you He has created is really the you that is on the inside.
That is who you really are.
Changing things on the outside really doesn’t change you.
Whether you have the best complexion or the best teeth or the best physique, or not what you believe to be the greatest shape or you have features that are not what everyone else has or you don’t’ have features that everyone else has, you need to remember that God created you and wants to and can glorify Himself through You and help you to live an enjoyable and full life no matter how you look on the outside.
I want you to watch this video clip of Nick Vujicic and see how what’s on the outside matters a whole lot less than what is on the inside.
Lights off
Video – Nick Vujicic Testimony
This shows us the truth that God created you to be you and not only that, but it shows that no matter what your physical qualities are like
Your life has a plan and purpose (v. 139:16b)
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Psalm 139:16b
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
God has a plan for your life, to use you to bring glory on honor to Him.
He doesn’t need you to be more physically attractive, more talented, or better looking for his plan and purpose to be fulfilled in you. He doesn’t even need you to have 2 legs or 2 arms to use you.
You have been created in his image to be you and He has a plan and purpose for you just the way He created you.
He still wants us tot Grow
Now this doesn’t mean that He doesn’t want to grow you or He is going to leave you the way you are. This is only speaking of our physical attributes. He wants to grow and change you spiritually to be more like His Son. But He wants to do that for everyone.
And this is not to say that we can’t at times change our physical attributes. We see throughout God’s word that he makes the blind to see and the lame to walk.
But changing those externals doesn’t change us and it doesn’t help God out any.
He doesn’t need to us with different physical attributes to use us. All He wants is for us to make ourselves available.
If we are not going to be mugged by the mirror anymore, we need to know what God knows about us.
Secondly to avoid being mugged by the mirror, we need to
See how God sees
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So often we make judgments on the externals. How a person looks.
Is she outwardly beautiful?
Is he ripped?
We need to see how God sees. He doesn’t look at the externals.
When Samuel was going to anoint another king after Saul, God sent him to the house of Jesse.
Jesse began bringing out his sons and when Samuel saw the outward appearance of Jesse’s first son, He thought that he was surely the Lord’s choice.
But God said to Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:7 - "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
If we do not want to be mugged by the mirror and have our outward appearance dictating our identity, then we have to be examining our own heart and seeing what is in there.
Jesus said in
Mark 7:20-23
"What comes out of a man is what makes him ’unclean.’ 21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man ’unclean.’"
Our outside appearance doesn’t make us unusable to God.
But how we look on the inside certainly can.
If our heart is ugly, then changing the outside is not going to be of any benefit at all to us in regards to our long term eternal future.
And when we focus on the inside, when we focus on our heart, God grows us and shows us that He can use us in powerful ways regardless of our external features.
When we start seeing how God sees, we see things a whole lot clearer.
So as we begin to know what God knows and see how God sees, that will help us to also
Love Like God loves
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Jesus told his disciples “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” - John 13:34
How do we do that?
Well, I believe it starts with what Jesus tells us is the greatest commandment.
And that is we need to
Love God
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Jesus tells us in
Matthew 22:37-38 - "’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
When we are loving God above all else, with all of our heart, with all of our soul and with all of our mind, he will be directing us in all that we do.
As He directs us, we will be able to do what is humanly impossible.
We will be able to
Love People
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After Jesus tells what the greatest commandment is He says
Matthew 22:39 - 39 And the second is like it: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Maybe you think loving people is not so hard.
It isn’t so hard to love the lovable.
But Jesus loved the unlovable.
That is what we are called to do and that requires a relationship with God.
You see when we know what God knows and see how God sees and begin loving like God loves, our whole focus changes from externals to who a person really is, to who we really are.
In this verse in Matthew 22:39 that tells us to love your neighbor as yourself, there is an implication that we must love ourself.
Now this is not some self love, do what we want because we need to love ourselves, mumbo jumbo.
But, as God’s creation, we do need to have a proper love and respect for who God created us to be.
As we are loving God, He is able to help us not only see the “image of God” He has put in others, but He will also help us to see the image of God He has created within ourselves.
When we have a proper self image, of who we are, it helps us to truly live out the second greatest command and love our neighbor as we love ourselves, with a proper and godly love.
And as we do that, as we love people with our actions, it cycles back and helps us to continue to have a proper self respect and protect ourselves from being mugged by the mirror by having too much focus on the externals in our own life.
In fact the Bible tells us that our hearts will be at peace that we belong to Christ when we love others.
1 John 3:18-19
18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence
That is what we are looking for.
A heart that is at rest and at peace in the presence of God
As we know what God knows and see how God sees and love like God loves, we will have that peace and security in who the Lord has created us to be.
Ultimately, that is when we truly stop being mugged by the mirror and instead we become the mirror and we
Reflect God’s Glory
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When we are reflecting God’s glory, people are going to be seeing the beauty that He is in us.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul tells the Corinthians of when Moses used to meet with God and would come down off the mountain, that his face would reflect the glory of the Lord and it was so awesome that the Israelites would not even gaze upon it so Moses would cover it.
But now through Jesus, as we meet with God and He works in our lives, Paul tells us in
2 Corinthians 3:18 that we will “reflect the Lord’s glory” and be “transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
Conclusion
Maybe you are here today and have been getting mugged by the mirror for much of your life.
Maybe Satan has been telling you that because of your physical attributes, you will never amount to anything.
Those are lies.
You are created in the image of God and He has a plan and a purpose for you and wants to use you and reflect His glory off of you so that when people see you, they don’t see the physical you, but instead they see the glory of the One and Only reflecting off of you and radiating a beauty that is real and lasting beauty that only can come from Him.
This all starts as we surrender ourselves to Christ and receive Him as our Savior and begin the process of growing in Him and
Knowing what He knows
Seeing how He sees
Loving like He loves so we can
Reflect His glory and a true beauty throughout all of our lives.
If you have been getting mugged by the mirror through your life, I want to pray for you this morning.
If you have never received Christ, made a conscious decision to trust Him as your Savior, that is the first thing you need to do.
But then I want to pray for those who just need to surrender the priorities of the world in terms of our outward appearance to the priorities of the Lord in regards to our heart.
After I pray we are going to sing Surrender and it is my hope that you make that your prayer as well.
Let’s pray.
