Man In The Mirror

Welcome to Trace’s Space.  Who do you think you are? Who is the man/woman in the mirror.  It’s funny how we change, it seems as if the lines on my face are getting thicker these days, I jokenly said to Mike the other day, “ I have aged twenty years in the past year.”  But it is true, life takes a toll on our appearance, age, illnesses, life events, it honestly does, but while the outside changes, the inside does too.  I would like to believe we are all like fine wine and that we become better with age, but honestly sometimes, just like wine, we may lose our sweetness and become bitter.

Life is hard! But God, He is so Good!

But who are we?

Yesterday I was engaged in conversation with some folks and we were talking about how sometimes people appear to be one thing in person, but behind closed doors they are completely different.  They are not the person that shows up in the mirror.  Our society makes it easy to hide our true selves, social media gives us the opportunity to be royalty or paupers depending on the validation need of the moment.  I am not saying all people do this, I would say the percentage of folks is very low, but it is a reality of how we are wired, our desire for acceptance quite often trumps our life requirement to simply be real! 

When you pretend to be something you are not, it requires a whole lot of work, you have to constantly have your game on and have your next lie ready to go.  Some folks are so good at it, they have forgotten who they are, they become the lie, no truth stands a chance!  They have forgotten a lot.

I am not perfect! My life is complicated, I can be ugly, I can be mean, but I am who you see! I am not one person at home and another elsewhere, my filter in public might just be a little better, lol! But seriously, people do not want to be surrounded by superficial yes people, they want honesty and realness. 

Have you ever known someone who is just as beautiful on the outside as the inside, pretty is as pretty does? I don’t believe you have to be Miss America to obtain that level of beauty, I believe that appearance comes on because of the level of truth you allow to manifest in how you live your life. 

You know the person who you know that you know, walks the walk and truly talks the talk.

The sad part is sometimes we have no clue that our words and actions testify to who we are, or the perception of who people think we are.  Sometimes you are having a bad life or a tough season and because the world doesn’t want to see it you are chastised for living your reality. We can’t always be shiney happy people.  So quick to judge a bad day.  I remember a supervisor telling me, “you can never have a bad day in early childhood!” What planet was she from, you can have a bad day anywhere, you just can’t allow those days to define you! Tomorrow is another day, this too shall pass! That’s reality.

Who are you?

Jesus told his buddies, “I Am!” Those words were revealing, truly identifying, words from old so that they would know he spoke truth.  I wonder if the big twelve were waiting for a complicated response, but Jesus being God knew that He is, “I Am”!

He also has words for us as to Who He says we are, we are chosen, not forsaken, loved, we are His, set apart.  That is why honesty and being who we truly are is important.  He knows our heart!

“How folks see you everyday is how you should be always! There is no such thing as a church face! 

Be real! God knows your heart and in reality so does everybody else!”

(People love that person)

Really no matter how hard you try you can’t hide the truth! Don’t avoid the mirror, it will show the effects of life on your face, and don’t avoid the truth, it will reveal the true beauty in your heart! 

See you next time!