The Mirror of Erised
“He was despised, rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”
- Isaiah 53:3
I know that for most people, if someone were to ask what we would see if we looked into the Mirror of Erised, we would burst into a flood of heartbroken tears. We have all dealt with feelings of inadequacy and envy, rejection, depression, and desperate longing for something more. We think that if only we could change something - our marital status, our figure, our job, the past, our health - then we would not only have, but BE everything we wish we could be. The Savior knows how this feels. Living through mortality is not an easy task, especially when we feel we are failing at every turn. Jeffrey R. Holland has said:
“I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of us—insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn’t measure our talents or our looks; He doesn’t measure our professions or our possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other. I know that if we will be faithful, there is a perfectly tailored robe of righteousness ready and waiting for everyone, “robes … made … white in the blood of the Lamb.”
My mumsy used to say to me, when I went through a period of self-loathing and felt I wasn’t as good as my friends, “If Heavenly Father had wanted another Jane, he’d have created another Jane. If He had wanted another Betty, he would have created another Betty. But He wanted a Melissa.”
Heavenly Father wanted YOU. You have flaws and you always will in this life. But these make you REAL, unique, and beautiful. And the things we experience in mortality are meant to teach, strengthen, and help us to fulfill our unique destinies, whatever they may be. Now get out there and be YOU.
“I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of us—insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn’t measure our talents or our looks; He doesn’t measure our professions or our possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other. I know that if we will be faithful, there is a perfectly tailored robe of righteousness ready and waiting for everyone, “robes … made … white in the blood of the Lamb.”
My mumsy used to say to me, when I went through a period of self-loathing and felt I wasn’t as good as my friends, “If Heavenly Father had wanted another Jane, he’d have created another Jane. If He had wanted another Betty, he would have created another Betty. But He wanted a Melissa.”
Heavenly Father wanted YOU. You have flaws and you always will in this life. But these make you REAL, unique, and beautiful. And the things we experience in mortality are meant to teach, strengthen, and help us to fulfill our unique destinies, whatever they may be. Now get out there and be YOU.
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