Elevation with Steven Furtick

Episode: My Maker Is My Mirror
Date: November 7, 2025
Host: Pastor Steven Furtick (Elevation Church)

Overview

In this powerful episode, Pastor Steven Furtick explores the central theme: How our sense of identity and self-worth is shaped not by others, circumstances, or our own flawed reflections, but by our Creator—the One who made us. Drawing from Joshua 14 and the story of Caleb, as well as the story of Moses, Furtick unpacks the biblical view of self-image and calls listeners to reject distorted mirrors—negative self-perception, stories of the past, limiting people—and to see themselves as God sees them. The message pulses with encouragement, wit, and urgency: “My Maker is my mirror.”

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Setting the Stage: Joshua 14 and Caleb's Boldness

• Furtick reads Joshua 14:6–12, focusing on Caleb’s insistence to claim Hebron, the land God promised him decades prior.
• Key insight: Caleb didn’t rely on chance or the crowd to determine his destiny, but on the promise God had given him.
• “You're not going to figure out where I live by just rolling some dice, okay? I have a promise.” — Steven Furtick (07:56)

2. The Power of Praise and Identity

• Furtick muses on Judah, the tribe of praise, leading the approach:
  “I wonder if there's something about praise that helps us to take possession of the promises of God... If you could get in a place of praise, you might see the solution clearly today.” (03:46)
• The inheritance was about more than real estate—it was about embracing identity.

3. The Centrality of Self-Image and Divine Reflection

• God’s narrative in Genesis is about being made in his image for a purpose—to reflect, not just represent.
• “When you insult the product, you insult the manufacturer... God took something that seemed filthy and finite and made something that would reflect what is eternal.” (09:56)
• Furtick stresses the chasm between how God sees us, how we see ourselves, and how others do:
  “It's not how God sees me. It's how I think God sees me that determines where I end up.” (08:19)

4. The Dangers of Distorted Mirrors: Moses and Misplaced Identity (17:03)

• The episode delves into Moses’ struggle between his Hebrew birth and Egyptian upbringing:
• Moses’ identity crisis led to running away and decades in hiding. The pivotal question posed to Moses: “Who made you?”
• “If you don't know that, you will hand other people your mirror to show you who you are.” (18:06)
• Notable moment: Furtick jokes if church people wrote the Bible, it'd be filled with books about every leader’s worst mistake—a rebuke of defining ourselves by failure, not redemption.

5. Who Holds Your Mirror? The Influence of Others

• The analogy of “mirror neurons” and the contagiousness of both faith and cynicism (24:25):
  • “If you have cynical people holding up your mirror, you'll always feel small... smaller than your giant, smaller than your addiction, because you're not looking at your God.” (25:58)
• The negative report of the spies in Numbers 13 mirrors this:
  “When your mistakes are your mirror, you stay on the outside of Canaan, even though you have the strength to go in. Not because you are small, but because you see small.” (26:50)
• “The level you will settle on is the level you see yourself.” (34:44)

6. Life Application: Living from God's Reflection, Not the World's

• Self-worth doesn’t come from appearance, achievement, or approval, but from the Creator.
  • “You put 20 minutes into your makeup today, but you didn't get in this mirror right here. This is a mirror, too.” (32:28)
• “You are not my maker. You will not be my mirror.” (34:44)
• Social media and comparison are called out as dangerous mirrors; only God’s word is described as a safe, truthful mirror.

7. Moving Forward: Claiming the High Ground

• Caleb exemplifies living from God’s mirror:
  “Look at somebody say, I still have it. Because I'm not talking about the flesh. I'm talking about faith. The wilderness can do one of two things to you. It can kill you, or it can make you stronger.” (33:12)
• Practical step: Step into the “high place”—not settling for low self-esteem, mediocrity, or labels from others.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• 03:46 — “I wonder if some of the problems you've been focusing on, if you could get in a place of praise, you might see the solution clearly today.” — Steven Furtick
• 09:56 — “When you insult the product, you insult the manufacturer... God took something that seemed filthy and something that seemed finite and made something that would reflect what is eternal.” — Steven Furtick
• 08:19 — “It's not how God sees me. It's how I think God sees me that determines where I end up.” — Steven Furtick
• 18:06 — “If you don't know that, you will hand other people your mirror to show you who you are.” — Steven Furtick
• 25:58 — “If you have cynical people holding up your mirror, you'll always feel small.” — Elevation Church Worship Leader
• 26:50 — “When your mistakes are your mirror, you stay on the outside of Canaan, even though you have the strength to go in. Not because you are small, but because you see small.” — Steven Furtick
• 34:44 — “You are not my maker. You will not be my mirror.” — Steven Furtick
• 32:28 — “You put 20 minutes into your makeup today, but you didn't get in this mirror right here. This is a mirror, too.” — Steven Furtick
• 33:12 — “Look at somebody say, I still have it. Because I'm not talking about the flesh. I'm talking about faith.” — Steven Furtick

Timestamps for Key Sections

• [02:06] – Opening prayer, context for the message
• [04:16] – Introduction of Joshua 14, Caleb’s speech
• [09:56] – The nature of being made in God’s image
• [12:43 – 13:42] – The nation of Israel’s identity crisis and coming into inheritance
• [17:03] – Moses’ identity crisis: “Who made you?”
• [18:06] – “If you don't know that, you will hand other people your mirror...”
• [24:25 – 25:58] – “Mirror neurons” and the power of our social/spiritual environment
• [26:50] – Reflections determine reality; “grasshopper mentality” and the report of the spies
• [32:28] – The Word of God as the real mirror
• [34:44] – “You are not my maker. You will not be my mirror.”
• [38:31] – Ministry time and call to see self through God’s eyes
• [41:19] – Declarations of faith and final exhortation

Conclusion/Call to Action

Furtick concludes with a forceful call:

• Stop letting mistakes, feelings, other people's opinions, or circumstances define your worth.
• “If you go to the wrong mirror, you'll always feel small. But if you will learn how to worship and get in the word of God and believe the promise he spoke over your life... the word of God can do something for your spirit.” (37:40)

Final Prayer and Declaration

• Listeners are led to visualize themselves as God’s reflection—made of dust, touched with divinity, with a higher purpose and a greater name.
• “God says, I want to see myself in you. When God sees you, he sees himself. He sees his son.” (34:44)

Summary Table

| Theme | Key Scripture | Memorable Quote | |-----------------------------|-----------------------|----------------------------------------------------| | Identity in Christ | Joshua 14, Colossians 1:15 | “My Maker is my mirror.” | | Power of Reflection | Genesis 1, Exodus 2/4 | “It's how I think God sees me that determines where I end up.” | | Avoiding Distorted Mirrors | Numbers 13, James 1 | “If you have cynical people holding up your mirror, you'll always feel small.” |

In Summary:
Pastor Steven Furtick challenges listeners to reject every negative, limited, or secondhand image of themselves and to adopt the vision of their Maker. The message is one of faith, self-worth rooted in divine truth, and living from a place of victory—regardless of the “giants” or challenges ahead.

Essential takeaways:

• Let God’s Word, not people or your past, be your mirror.
• Step into your promise with faith, not fear.
• You have what it takes—not because you always feel it, but because your Maker says so.

End of Summary