Look In the Mirror - August 16

Read James 1:22-24

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

Reflect

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at this natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

Have you ever had one of those days when you just feel like whatever it is, you’ve got it? You notice that other people just can’t help but notice you. It feels like everyone’s eyes are on you. Man, you must look good today! You check the mirror to see just how attractive you are only to discover that the sloppy joe you had for lunch must have been extra sloppy today. You’ve got it all over your face!

Now you are faced with a choice. You can either accept the reality in the mirror and fix the problem by wiping off your face. Or, you can leave it there and carry on with your self-delusion that the rest of the world thinks you’re hot stuff.

In today’s verses, James says that if we hear the Word of God but we don’t put it into practice we are like a man who checks himself out in the mirror but then just turns and walks away. Even if he has sloppy joe all over his face!

You see, God’s Word is like a mirror. But instead of showing us how we look on the outside, it exposes the truth of our hearts. The author of Hebrews wrote: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

God’s Word has the power to expose the areas of our lives that need some attention. But what good is it if the Bible shows us changes that we need to make but we ignore it! Why bother reading your Bible or listening to a sermon at all if you are just going to leave the spiritual slop all over your soul?

James says that when we hear the Word without being “doers of the Word” that we are deceiving ourselves. If we think Christianity is about how much we know, we are dead wrong. God didn’t just give us the Bible to make us more spiritually enlightened. His Word is of both spiritual and practical use.

2 Timothy 3:17 tells us why Scripture was given to us: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” You see, God gave us His Word to make us perfect and complete in Christ, equipped to do His work.

Friends, God’s Word is meant to change us but we have to respond to it. We have to put what He’s teaching us into practice. Today, spend some time looking into the mirror or God’s Word, ask God to show you which areas of your life need some attention, and then take action. When you do, you’ll gradually begin to notice that your reflection looks a little less like you and little more like Him.

Respond

Lord, I want to be more like You. Reveal to me through Your Word changes that I need to make in my life and help me to take action. I don’t want to just hear You, I want to obey You. Amen.

Reveal

Start a short “Mirror Challenge” with a friend—read one Scripture together daily for 5 days and each commit to one action step it calls for. Then reflect together on how it went. Let God’s Word guide the growth.