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“I know that’s a lie. It’s completely untrue,” I said to myself as I looked in the mirror. This morning, we’re in a hotel, and I decided to use the magnifying mirror in the bathroom. What I saw in the reflection shocked me, it was unexpectedly rude. So rude that I called it a lying vanity (a very bad pun intended).

When did that wrinkle appear? How did I not notice that my eyebrows were getting out of control? The gray hairs don’t bother me, though. My dad had beautiful silver hair, and I think mine is following suit. Seeing the gray hairs made me smile as I remembered him. Dad has only been gone for a short time, so memories still pop up unannounced. I hope that my hair will turn the same shade of gray as his.

That’s a lie, but I’m resigned to it

Accepting what I saw in the mirror, I let out a sigh and smiled. I find joy in reflecting on the privilege of growing older. Not everyone gets the chance to see their children grow up, marry, and have families of their own. And, not everyone is fortunate enough to share their life with their great love for as long as I have.

Once I was done telling the mirror it’s lying, and with my nostalgic reverie, it was time for my devotions. It wasn’t surprising, then, when I came across 2 Corinthians 3:18. I think God set me up.

While I am aging outwardly, inwardly, I’m transforming. Transforming is different from aging in that when we age, our bodies are slowing down, heading toward death. When we transform into God’s image inwardly, we are not filled with death, but with His life.

Transformation

Every day as I set myself to grow in my relationship with God, I am transformed just a bit more. And that transformation can be seen outwardly in how I live. I have an inside track with God. He keeps me close so that the goings-on of this life won’t consume me. I’m changing from being filled with the cares of life to being filled with the cares of heaven.

Don’t mistake this for me being fatalistic. The perspective God gives as we’re transformed into His image helps us to live fruitfully in this world. If you read 2 Peter 1:5-8, you’ll see that there is a reason for living in close connection with God. As we stay close to Him, we live productive lives in an increasingly complicated world. We are here for a reason, and that reason is to spread God’s love far and wide.

That’s a lie! Just ditch the mirror!

But that mirror made me mad this morning. I’ll probably still try the next promising cream. Some new “miracle” with retinol, peptides, and something extracted from a rare leaf from some far-off exotic island.

While the outer self is doing its own thing (and by “thing” I mean slowly decaying), God reminds me that something much more important is happening. “Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16, NKJV).

That’s not just poetic, it’s profoundly hopeful. God isn’t asking me to fight the clock. He’s inviting me to walk with Him through every season, trusting that He’s doing something meaningful even when mirrors tell tales.

And then there’s Psalm 103, which says, “Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:5, NKJV). Now, I don’t know precisely what that means, because last I checked, eagles don’t need under-eye cream, but I do know this: genuine renewal comes from being satisfied in God. Not in the mirror. Not in how smooth my skin looks under bathroom lighting. In Him.

So yes, I’ll keep an eye out for the next great serum. But more than that, I want to chase the kind of beauty that lasts, the type marked by joy, wisdom, resilience, and a heart that’s learning to be renewed from the inside out, even if my neck is developing a “gobbler.” 🐔

On the other hand, I could take out my contacts and ditch looking in the magnifying mirror.

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