The issues that women deal with and the lessons learned when we share our stories, transcend time and culture.  It’s like looking at a three-way mirror.

The mirror on the left reflects our ideal self, the image that represents all that we aspire to be based on what we’ve learned from our mothers, our friends, our culture, our religion.  It reflects all that is good and right and beautiful; the perfect size, posture, attitude, background, and future.  She is healthy and whole.  As the epitome of virtue, she inspires us and drives us to action.

The mirror on the left reflects our ideal self, the image that represents all that we aspire to be based on what we’ve learned from our mothers, our friends, our culture, our religion.  It reflects all that is good and right and beautiful; the perfect size, posture, attitude, background, and future.  She is healthy and whole.  As the epitome of virtue, she inspires us and drives us to action.

The mirror on the right reflects the naked truth that no one gets to see but us.  The image represents our insecurities, our failures, our disappointments, and our displeasure.  It reflects all that we loathe; that we think is wrong and ugly about ourselves.  She is the one who binges, masturbates, fornicates, overspends, gossips, underachieves, procrastinates, yells at her children, disrespects her husband, farts loudly, hoards and cuts corners.  She is our shame and what we try so very hard to hide.

The mirror in front of us is the one we present to the world.  The superficial person we makeup and cover up to feel comfortable facing tomorrow.  The image we create to impress others and the one who gives us the courage to face tomorrow.  She helps us to get out of bed each morning, ignore everything else and look straight ahead.  She’s holding it together and while not perfect she’s good enough.  Good enough to marry, good enough to sing in the choir, good enough to serve in the community, good enough to raise children, good enough to be your friend.  She’s good enough to function most days.

Our dysfunction is directly proportional to the difference between the mirror on the left and the mirror on the right.  How we feel about ourselves and the energy we expend to make the adjustments necessary to face the world also reflects our relationship with God.  If we don’t believe that God loves the real woman on the right, how can we love her?  If we don’t believe the woman on the left is real, how can we ever be at peace?  That’s why we’re overweight and tired.  We’re longing for Him to love us the way we are, but we don’t love ourselves.  We try to fill the void with food, clothes, men, busyness, or whatever else we can but it’s still there; that craving for unconditional love.

Everything good and perfect is from God with whom there is no variation or shadow when you see His reflection.  By his own will and desire, he created us and is making us into new creatures through his words of truth so that we would be like first-fruits consecrated by Him; set apart and dedicated to his service.

That’s why we must get rid of all the filthiness and the abundance of wickedness that gets in the way of our productivity.  We must receive with meekness the Word, which is able to save souls and have it implanted in our hearts.  We have to be women who live the word, and not just those who sit in church every Sunday deceiving ourselves.  The one who hears and takes no action is the woman who looks in the mirror on the right and sees herself for who she really is and then goes away pretending that she is the woman on the left.  However, the one who looks into the word, which is perfect and gives liberty, then, makes the adjustments necessary will be blessed in all she does.  If we think we are Christians but don’t know how to apply the word of God to our daily lives in a real and practical way, we are lying to ourselves and our religion is useless.

Real unadulterated religion is to help those in our midst who are in trouble and to face the world with your true authentic self; the woman who has been washed in the blood of the lamb; the one who Jesus’ loves today and died for over two thousand years ago.  The one whose sins he forgave before she was even born; the one who is fearfully and wonderfully made in His image; the one who is a princess and part of a royal priesthood.  She is beautiful but she’s not perfect.  She is righteous but she is not sinless.  She is holy but not pious.  She is confident but not arrogant.  She is real.