The Selfie

By: Kandice Adams

Not too long ago, I watched as my oldest daughter smiled, took the perfect selfie, and immediately uploaded it to Facebook.  I am quite envious of those people who never take a bad picture, as I don’t believe that I have ever taken the perfect picture. It generally takes me roughly five shots to get one that doesn’t look goofy, and then another five just to capture a decent image. 

Am I the only one? 

Just once, I would like to take a perfect picture that doesn’t capture the small pimple on my chin and magnify it by a hundred.  Just once, I would like to take a picture that doesn’t deepen the wrinkles on my forehead, sigh.  Just once, I would like to take a picture that doesn’t capture my irritation but instead my preferred happiness.  Those shots are difficult to come by and are often even elusive because pictures have a way of magnifying that which we have a propensity to hide or ignore.

Pictures have a way of telling you the truth.

It causes me to wonder what I would look like if I took a selfie of my spiritual life and uploaded it to Facebook. 

Would people see the wrinkles caused by my worn out prayer life, or would they see the pimples caused by excessive spiritual grime, such as arrogance or indifference, in my walk?

Would people see my strained relationship with Christ that I try to mask with a pious smile?

So often what we want people to see is far from the reality of our spiritual lives.  Instead of placing our hope in Christ and giving Him our fears and doubts, we put on a happy front to mask our insecurities or our bitterness.  Instead of depending on Him and allowing Him to speak to our unbelief, we use the rose-colored filter to present a spiritually flawless image of a person who doesn’t exist.

Living the Christian life isn’t about perfection, it is about excellence.

As Christians, we must be deliberate about the health of our spiritual lives because it is imperative that the world see Christ in the lens of its camera by the way we live.  It is so important that we intentionally use every platform in our lives as a catapult to usher those far from God into a relationship with Christ.  But we do this by not focusing on what others see, but instead on what God sees.  We do this by not posing for the audience of many, but for the audience of one.   It is only when we begin to narrow our focus on Him that our spiritual selfie comes out clearly, with the perfect angle, and the perfect pose.

Today, I encourage you to stop and take a spiritual selfie by seeking God in prayer.  Ask Him to search your heart and reveal that which is hidden, that which doesn’t glorify Him.  Allow Him to show you the proper angle in the perfect light, His light, to bring yourself into a truer and closer walk, while really living it before others.

Word of the Day:
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalms 139:23-24 

Prayer:
Lord, there is such relief in knowing that you know my inner most thoughts.  It brings me joy to know that I can come before you and bear all of my iniquities, all of my imperfections, all of my mess, and your love for me remains unwavering.  Thank you, Lord, for your love.  I ask that you remind me when I forget, that you are here and always available, and that I only need to exist for you and everything else will come into perfect focus, in Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

---