“It’s almost impossible to know what you truly look like … and cameras and mirrors don’t help,” reports Starre Vartan for the Mother Nature Network. Everything from lens distortion to camera angels, the asymmetry of our facial features, and the variability and “flip-flop” effect of mirrors all combine to keep our true self-image a bit of a mystery. And the one factor that is sure to keep us in the dark is the fact the we can only ever see ourselves in 2 dimensions (as reflections or captured images) rather than in 3-D as other see us. [1]
It’s strange to think that everyone can see us as we are, except us! And we’re not just left in the dark about our true physical appearance; we seem to be at a similar disadvantage when it comes to our emotional and spiritual state, as well. We have such distorted perceptions of who we truly are in our heart of hearts. Ego, pride, arrogance, and even shame, guilt, and despair can all serve to distort our self-image.
Looking into the mirror of the Word of God helps to make the image clearer. Even so, these images are still mere reflections, distorted by our own human limitations. We will not see ourselves as we truly are — in 3D — until we stand in the very presence of God. Then we will be know even as we are fully known.
“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Additional Application:
One of the advantages of marriage is that we are blessed with a life partner who is able to see us as we are, in 3D. But even this doesn’t help us, should we refuse to humbly receive the truth our spouse attempts to speak into our lives.
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1. “Why selfies and mirrors can make you feel weird,” by Starre Vartan, MOTHER NATURE NETWORK, November 6, 2014.