Have you ever tried one of those filters you find on Snapchat or Instagram? Maybe some other social media app I am not in the know about? I saw one the other day that was a split screen in which one half showed the regular camera view and when you moved your face to the other half, showed you as "perfect". While I know I am not perfect and I do not always feel comfortable in my own skin (especially as the years creep on by), I actually didn't like how I looked in the other half. It slimmed down my nose but then gave it this upturned appearance that I thought looked ridiculous. I actually laughed about it. My lips appeared puffy and my makeup would take multiple washes to get it off if it had been real!
But somehow society (and social media has helped) pushes for this ideal perfection. This is not a new truth. Humans have always been this way. It's a vanity that comes from a darker source. And it is pushed on us constantly. The more technology creates these opportunities to share content and ideas, the more we will be bombarded by images of "perfection". And it does something to your brain. It creates a mentality of needing to be perfect, to change how we look to fit this image.
I know there has been a lot about body positivity and accepting who we are, but the fact remains that we still have these images trying to press into our brain what needs to change. First of all, I don't agree with a cookie cutter image. God created each of us and He made us unique. I don't want to change my image so drastically that I am no longer who He made me to be. I do admit I am overweight and I am working to lose that weight. However, that is not how He created me, but what I have done to myself over time through my own decisions. It is not an image issue or weight issue, but a health issue. I think we do not always admit to ourselves some of the things that make up our image that we do not like are of our own doing. But my bone structure, the color of my eyes, of my hair, those are things God designed me to look like.
I may be stepping on some toes here, but I believe I know the deeper reason for wanting to change these things. If God created you to be who you are, Satan is only too happy to try and warp that image. Satan hates us, despises us really. And what is one of his biggest issues? Vanity. He sows that discontent into so many messages, whispers them into our ears just to distort the truth that we are created in God's image and he can't stand that.
So take a step back from the mirror. Ignore the pimple on your forehead (yes, I am describing my own mirror at the moment), the gray hairs starting to show up, or the laugh lines you are uncomfortable with and look at the whole picture. Smile. You are beautiful in your sum and don't let Satan tell you otherwise. The twinkle in your eye, the smile that speaks confidence, the raised chin because you are a child of God speak the truth. Don't be so judgemental or hard on yourself.
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