Last weekend we braved the local mall to pick something up at the dollar store ‘really quickly’. As we walked down the hallway towards the dollar store, a young man from a kiosk tried to get our attention. I am really good at looking distracted and quickly getting by these kiosks. Jason, however, has a heart of pure gold and always sees the person and wants to give them a few minutes because this is their job and it’s a hard one. I love him for it, but it takes time…time we didn’t have before the mall closed.

This particular kiosk was a skin care product and the young man pulled us in and asked me what products I use on my face. I told him and then he asked, When’s the last time you took a shower? As he’s rubbing a product on my wrist and a grey, disgusting, dirty film starts to rub off of my skin. I was shocked. Who asks such a question? I had just had a shower a few hours ago, but from the look of what he was rubbing off my wrist, I felt like I hadn’t showered in years! He continues to tell us that using this product once a week, would take care of any large pores in our skin, the age spots forming on my cheeks, and the rosacea that plagues me. Then he turned to Jason and informed him that this product would do wonders for the puffiness and bags under his eyes as well.

Within three minutes of meeting us, this stranger (with perfect skin) pointed out all of our blemishes and we allowed it. I found it highly amusing and thought to myself, why do I find this so incredibly humorous? Here a stranger is telling me all these negative things about my physical appearance and I am able to laugh it off because I know my identity does not lie in my physical flaws. It lies in who Christ says I am.

Yet, at the same time, I am drawn in and tempted to ask how much this magic potion costs. Soon enough, I find out that it is $200 for one little canister, but today, and today only, we can get it for $100 a canister. By now I cannot keep the laughter inside and turn to Jason and give him the look of There is no way! I turn to the young man and tell him that this is not something I would buy for myself, so we’d have to discuss it and see if J would buy it for me for Christmas. But tomorrow it will cost you $200! Of course it will.

Why is it that our confidence in our identity is solid in situations like this, but to shut out the lies of the enemy in our minds…in our own personal thought patterns, when we are ridiculing ourselves because of our weight, our physical flaws, etc, we have a hard time claiming the promise that I am fearfully and wonderfully made?  (Psalm 139:14) We can laugh off the comments of perfect skinned young man at the mall kiosk, but the negative thoughts we allow in our  minds about ourselves, run rampant. I am going to work at laughing these lies off too. They have no right taking over my mind. How about you?