What do you see when you look in the mirror? You may notice your beautiful hair growth, your blushful cheeks, your glowing eyes, or maybe you notice your overgrown eyebrows, the tired bags under your eyes or the new pimple that always seems to come the same time each month lol The mirror helps us to see, reflect and be aware of what is before us. It shows us the things we admire and reveals the things we might need to adjust. It shows us what we don’t see unless we look into it. Today we’re going to talk about self awareness and reflection. We’re going to talk about not just looking at our outward appearance but looking deeper within, looking at our heart and putting things in order. This past week I have been doing some self reflection. And let’s be honest, that’s actually not as easy as it may sound. To look within is sometimes uncomfortable. It takes humility to look at the good and the messy things. We all have to understand that within us lies both good and messy. No one here is free from the mess that sometimes builds up within our hearts. The mess of unforgiveness, resentment, bitterness, anger, addiction, self pity, greed, perversion, slander, gossip, ungratefulness, discontentment and much more. Those things build up and fester before we even realize it sometimes. And in the same way no one here is without good in your heart right now, the beauty of selflessness, sacrifice, love, generosity, kindness, gentleness and so much more right. So as I took time this week to reflect I became aware of some things I really want to work on, like not just reflect and then never work on but really work on for real. Then I realized that just as quickly as I became aware I began a dialogue of negative self talk, then I began to hear the prompting of the Holy spirit stop me in my tracks and begin teaching me about the importance of self awareness and reflection, he showed me that it is not a self bashing show but rather a desire to simply grow for the better while still having self love and gentleness. We so easily beat ourselves up when we think we have things to work on, but it doesn’t have to be like that, in fact, it shouldn’t. In the same way we look in the mirror, see some overgrown eyebrow hairs then quickly pluck them out and say, “dang girl you look good!” Is the same way we can with the little areas of our life that need some love, correction and attention. So today let’s look in the mirror together. Let’s not be afraid of what we might see but embrace every part of ourselves. Let’s rejoice in the beauty and take note of the messy and see what we can do to better those areas with the wisdom, grace and love of Jesus.

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