What Not to Wear. Theology 101?

My wife Stephanie loves watching the show, What Not To Wear on TLC. For those unfamiliar with the show, it basically works this way: Two or more of your closest friends and usually a very close relative (spouse, child, parent) send in pictures or videos of your terrible fashion sense and give WNTW permission to put hidden video cameras in the places where you wear and change your clothes. After they gather enough evidence of your lack of fashion taste buds – as well as anything else you might have done while the cameras are running – they bring you in and let you see footage of your friends and family basically dogging the way you dress. You also get to see the hidden camera footage. Then they spend the next 45 minutes – and $5000 – remaking your image from the outside in. The show concludes with you walking into a room with all your friends and family waiting to see the new you.The result is usually amazing, a total transformation. The women almost always walk away thanking Stacy and Clinton for helping them regain their self-esteem, their confidence that they can look nice, despite the verbal abuse they have undergone along the way. There are usually some tears involved but also an excitement about their new life ahead. Great stuff, right? There is something about this that just rubs me wrong in a very painful place and with sandpaper. What comes to mind is how I use What Not To Wear axioms in my own life! How many times, usually after some ridiculous argument I started with my wife or after wasting away a perfectly useful afternoon /evening doing absolutely nothing useful, have I seen myself as pre-WNTW women see themselves? There is no hope for me. I can’t beat this. I am too undisciplined. There is too much baggage. I was an only child. I just have too many bad habits. If people really knew me, they would never want me around people they care about. And on and on. Hey, most of the time I will readily admit this and even more readily will forego the embarassing video footage that proves it!But at this point, i usually make one of two decisions, neither of which serves at all in the way of progress: continue to languish in my self-pity and sink into a state of depression, or give myself an incredible pep-talk (not infrequently as a result of a good fixer-upper book filled with great tips and tricks on getting better at life) that renews my excitement about life and gives me hope once again! I’m sure you know the one, “I just need to get up earlier, practice these 7 principles and put a smile on my face so everyone will think I’ve got it together. Then, maybe I will get it all together and will be like everyone else who seems like they have it all together.” Of course, after a little while it all falls apart again and I’m back in front of the mirror where I began having to make the same choice. From books I’ve read, I have learned that I do not have a monopoly on this struggle. Indeed, it has been a struggle since the Fall. Adam and Eve blew it, felt horrible about what they did, realized they were filthy. . . . and proceeded to try to cover it up! Not only did I inherit Adam’s sin, but also his response to sin!! So, here are a few questions: I know that isn’t the correct response, but what is? How do I deal with the filth in my own life? Certainly this must be done before I can even think about dealing with it in others’ lives, right? And, why is it that our culture has such a difficult time truthfully admitting they are bankrupt?Ideally speaking . . . .I’d like to hear, er, read your thoughts!