Michael Winegeart, one of my college business professors and a wildly successful man in his own right, told our class about something he called the “mirror image”.

According to Winegeart, everyone has a mirror image.  You can’t be without one.  Your mirror image is that one person in your life whose approval is most important to you, whose affirmation you crave.

This person doesn’t even have to know you exist. They could even be 6 feet under. [Yes, we can still desire the approval of a dead person!] How funny does that sound?  Yet many of us do it.  We perform for someone’s approval – imaginary or otherwise.

The point is that to us, they’re very much alive in our minds. And from their known (or unknown) platform in our lives, they dictate how we see ourselves and what we perceive we can offer the world.

Whew! That’s quite a place we’ve given them in our hearts, wouldn’t you say?

Winegeart called it our “mirror image” because it’s what we look to to determine what we’re made of — our mirror reflecting back to us who we are. The problem is: It’s an imperfect mirror, displaying to us a false self.

NO HUMAN knows what your full potential is! No one can weigh the worth of all you are, all you can do, and who you’ll become in the future.

No one can determine your worth by knowing you, not even if they reared you, grew up in the same house with you, or committed the rest of their life to “have and to hold” you.

Your pastor can’t see it.  Your grandma, God bless her, can’t see it .  Even those who see you every day – your roommates, coworkers, or neighbors – aren’t privy to it.

No one has the power to tell you who you are.

But if you think they do — if you GIVE THEM that power — you become like a puppet on a string, trying to meet their demands as best you can.  You aren’t free to live your life, your dreams, or God’s plan for you.  You are a slave to them!

Well that’s not my problem!, some of you may be thinking.  I’m very confident.  I don’t look to anyone for reassurance and approval.

But the truth is, it appears you’ve fallen into this same trap, too — this “mirror image” problem. How, you ask?

Because you are your own mirror image, and as a human, you have limitations and short-sightedness that make it impossible to know even what you’re capable of yourself.

The truth is: We can’t get our identity and significance from ourselves, our significant other, our parents, or anyone else.

They can encourage us, and we hope they do… but they can’t tell us who we are, and they weren’t meant to. They’re as limited in understanding us as we are ourselves.

They don’t know the future.  
He doesn’t know your passions.
She can’t see your buried talents.
Even you aren’t always aware of what you can accomplish or what your gifts may be!

Growing up, I defined myself through the wrong eyes. Though who that person was changed from time to time, the underlying theme was that they were human, just like me, and thus ill-equipped to tell me who I was.

So if we must have a mirror image, who should it be? What qualities must they have? Here are a few:

• Knowing the future
• Knowing our potential
• Knowing our hidden gifts and talents
• Knowing our passions, desires, and dreams
• Knowing what we can accomplish in our lifetime

It’s safe to say we can replace this laundry list with “All Knowing”.  What a job description!

Only God can know all these things about you, your life, your future, and the world around you. We must stop expecting humans to fill His enormous shoes.

Don’t give others the right to define you. They simply can’t! And don’t define yourself – you’ll only limit your possibilities. Even if you’re a dreamer, you could never surpass God’s incredible plans for your life. So we must release our expectations of others/ourselves to define who we are–and shift this focus to God.

Today’s challenge: Ask God to become your mirror image, the One whose reflection you see yourself in! You don’t have to make it happen on your own. Ask for His help — because anyone else will limit you to their view of you. Then ask Him to make you into ALL He envisioned you to be when He created you. He is the BEST mirror image and truly One who will be with us every step of the way!