Nip And A Tuck

My wife thinks she is fat. There I said it. I'm gonna get in trouble but it's crazy. She really thinks she's fat and she's not. She is constantly comparing herself to photos of other women and asking; am I that big? or, do I look like that? The answer is always the same. She never,ever has compared herself to anyone smaller, prettier or more shapely that she is. I think there lays the truth in how she sees herself. She knows how to compare so that she does not feel compelled to change. She sees herself as she is. Just right.

So why does the world have this fixation on changing how we are viewed. The way we are is measured by what we do not have. When we have relationship with Christ we are measured now by what we do have.

I was watching television with my wife tonight and there was the standard issue loose weight commercials. Skinny women on treadmills in spandex telling us all that we need what they have. We need to be them. We need to change so we can be just right. I have met some of those people ,who, for their own reasons have chosen to modify their physical appearance as well as their emotional feelings in order to feel more accepted and acceptable to themselves and others.

Every channel is someone trying to change you. I think about all the self-help guru's out there. I think about the way the Mega-Diet culture has invaded our daily lives with their countless billboards, television, computer and print advertisements that help you identify your shortcomings then offer an easy and affordable cure to all that ails you. Weight problems, emotional problems, wrinkles, gray hair, bad hair, no hair, no problem, we can fix it.

I mean seriously, look around you. We put some serious time and effort everyday into primping, puffing, fluffing, sucking, pressing and dressing to feel good and be felt good about. Oh! how we like to manicure and trim, color and extend, flatten and firm, anything and everything in hopes of being universally accepted more often singularly recognized as the healthiest, most slim, prettiest, most handsome, most desirable, most envied, best dressed, best groomed, smartest, accomplished and exalted among our peers.

So much effort. So much evaluation. Do you think we should consider putting this same effort into our relationship with Christ?

Do we put forth the same passion born of desire to acknowledge and please Christ? What if the wrinkles that appear on our faces were a product of a lifetime of smiles and tears from worshiping our Lord? Would we rush out to erase them? What about the wrinkles in our lives? The scars born of a life of service and sacrifice unto Jesus? Would we seek to press, stretch or color over them? Should we consider the torn garment of our lives without Christ? When we are looking for an example of how we should "be" perhaps we now turn to Christ. When we are trying to compare ourselves to someone so we can own our worth, how about Jesus. Time to turn off the television and open the Bible. Jesus did not make a mistake when he made you. He made you with all the ability to develop into a life long follower of Him. He gave us purpose in and through Him. He gives meaning to all our insecurities and hangups. He leaves nothing to chance. He rewards us with joy and contentment with Him. I keep finding less and less that this world can do to distract me from my purpose. I think Jesus uses this process of our self-awareness to do a little nip and tuck of His own as He removes the obstacles of pride and ego from our pathways. Thanks God.