305 – Looking in the Mirror

#faithbites #faithjourney Mirror

When you look at the mirror, what do you see? Normally you see your reflection. If you are like me, most of the times, my reflection doesn’t seem to match who I really am. The funny thing though, is looking at my kids seems to give me a reflection from when I was a child.

Tonight, my youngest was acting super goofy. When I looked at her eyes, I saw myself and as I was getting mad, I felt what my dad must have felt. My wife often says my dad is in heaven laughing at this. My youngest is putting me through what I must have put my dad through.

While it’s awesome to see that reflection, I often wonder what other people see when they look at me. Do they see my heart and soul? Maybe it is the face I see when I look in the mirror that isn’t a true reflection. Who knows. I do know that God sees us for who we are and Jesus can be the best reflection of who we want to be.

Scripture

• Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror – James 1:23
• As in water face reflects face, So the heart of man reflects man.- Proverbs 27:19
• But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. – 2 Corinthians 3:18

Reflection

When writing #faithbites, sometimes the scriptures are a bit of a stretch, other times they are right on. The funny thing is I almost always right first the search for scripture. To see that they lined up perfect, must be I’m onto something.

In James, we see the exact illustration of my example above. When you look in the mirror you stare at it, but you aren’t doing anything. Hearing the Word of the Lord and not acting is the same thing. You have the gift but aren’t sharing it. When you look at the mirror, you are confined to your own mind, not sharing who you are with others.

At the same time the Proverbs verse shows the physical reflection and the spiritual one. The heart is a reflection of who you are. As I asked earlier, are others seeing your heart reflected, or are they seeing a mask?

Lastly, if God created us in his image, wouldn’t we want to show that? We want to be transformed. We are gifted with his likeness, his glory, his image. We want to show that in all we do. That mirror we hold up should be one that when people look at our reflection, they see our Lord.

Now, my little one is my reflection through and through. I joke with my wife that she’s her kid. She always says she’s a mini-Sol. I try to take that as a learning experience. How to show intense joy and compassion while seeing what I look like when I’m stubborn or angry. This is my mirror and I hope to use it as best I can while looking upon the glory of God.

Charge

When you look at yourself what do you see? Do others see what you want them to see? Try to think about how you can change that if you want to change it. Write down some of your actions. While you can’t force others to see you how you want to be seen, you can make some changes that benefit you and show the glory of God.

Lord, help me to be a reflection of you. When people hold me up as a mirror they see your love, your grace, and your salvation. Where I have a negative reflection, help me to change that to better serve you.