We moved close to a burger restaurant which I immediately fell in love with. The first couple times I got their signature burger, I was in heaven. But a burger can be so good that it’s bittersweet. Let me explain: It’s one of those foods which makes you feel a deep sadness as you get over halfway through, knowing it’s going to be over before you know it. Almost like when you turn 41. My third time to get the same burger, however, went beyond sad. I didn’t see any reason for alarm in eating a cheddar, buttered, bacon, double cheeseburger so late at night. But I found myself up at 3:00 a.m. throwing it up.
When you find yourself throwing up a burger that was so good that you might have chosen it over a new refrigerator on Wheel of Fortune, it’s a strange combination of love and hate.
“It’s a strange combination of love and hate.”
Here’s something else that combines love and hate: your bathroom mirror. Like the evil queen’s magic mirror in Snow White, your bathroom mirror can make you feel like the fairest person in the world (that’s quite a spectrum, as “fair” can mean anything from pleasing in appearance to pale). But, also like the queen’s mirror, there are times when your bathroom mirror can make you feel inadequate and ugly. Looking into it can even make you feel an insane jealousy.
When you’re looking awesome, you can love your bathroom mirror. And when you look at yourself and say, “That can’t be right,” you can come to hate your mirror. Even more sadly, you can begin hating yourself.
“If you’re not careful, the mirror can become the primary way you define your identity.”
If you’re not careful, the mirror can become the primary way you define your identity. Finding your identity in the mirror can be the cause of arrogance. Conversely, it can be the cause of embarrassment and envy. It can also be the cause of chronic lateness, but that’s a point for another post.
Renewing Your Bathroom Mirror
It’s time to bring renewal to your bathroom mirror. How? Here’s my suggestion: Get a piece of paper, a marker, and tape. Grab your Bible and find a passage you want to memorize. With the marker, write 4-5 verses on the paper, and then tape the paper somewhere on your bathroom mirror.
Then, while you’re in the bathroom, you can periodically look up and read it. In the shower, you can go over it in your mind, memorizing it. Wouldn’t it be great to introduce some intentionality into otherwise mindless activity by periodically going over the Scriptures on your bathroom mirror?
“Wouldn’t it be great to introduce some intentionality into otherwise mindless activity by periodically going over the Scriptures on your bathroom mirror?”
Within a week or two, my guess is that you’ll be gathering a new piece of paper and hunting down a marker and the tape, and writing a new 4-5 verses. Seriously, this works. And you’re not only adding intentionality into otherwise empty time. By reflecting on the Scriptures you’ve posted on your bathroom mirror, you’re reminding yourself of your true identity. Rather than seeing yourself as an idol to obsess over or as someone too ugly to love, remind yourself each morning of your true identity: child of God.
