What To Do With The Man In The Mirror?
What if we had a mirror that we could look at and see for ourselves how God sees us? What would that person look like, would we even recognise them? Most people have been to amusement parks where there are mirrors which are constructed in a way that makes you look thinner, or with more muscle than what we have. People walk past those mirrors and think, “Hey- I don’t look too bad!”. These special mirrors take the image that we project and transform them, by curving light and project back an image different to how we perceive ourselves.
When we look at ourselves, it is often through a combination of pride, self-righteousness, hurt and what others have thought of us. The Bible says in James 1, that God’s Word is a mirror which shows how God sees us. It reflects the real you- how we were created and how God has redeemed us. God sees our true identity
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. James 1:23-25 NASB
The Passion Translation puts it this way. ‘You perceive how God sees you in the mirror of the Word’. God’s Word is how God talks about you both to your face and behind your back! It’s what God thinks about you.
What does God think about you? He says you are loved and highly valued (Jeremiah 31:3)- He esteems you! He also says that He has made you righteous and made you His child (2 Cor 5:21, Romans 8:15). He has good plans for you, to prosper you and make you happy (Jeremiah 29:11).
The problem is, many of us find these things hard to accept. We are so used to being downtrodden and condemned that when we look at ourselves in God’s mirror, we don’t recognise the person we see there. Is it possible to be truly someone great, someone loved and righteous- and either not know it or not experience it? According to James 1:23-25, it is.
God has declared all Christians righteous and beloved children. Your righteousness and sonship are a spiritual reality if we feel like it or not. But what is real in the spirit, is not necessarily our experience. We need to appropriate the real us and be empowered by the Holy Spirit, for our true identity to become a vital reality in our lives.
My children are dual American and Australian citizens- it’s their birthright. My youngest one was born in the US- she was born American, however, she grew up an Aussie. She speaks like an Aussie and acts like an Aussie. Yet, she is a US Citizen. She was born a US citizen before she had any idea where the US was and what it meant to be a US Citizen. She had the legal standing of being a US Citizen, without knowing or getting any benefit from it. As the awareness of her US citizenship grew, and she became aware of what that meant, she was able to appropriate it. It’s possible to have an actual ‘legal’ standing without the knowledge of it or getting any benefit from it.
Recently, she wanted to move to the US but, due to the ‘health crisis,’ the Australian government tried to prevent her. However, as a US Citizen, she had a right to live in the US. She found out her rights, she insisted on them and finally, she was eventually permitted to leave the country.
As Christians, we need to take a long hard look in the ‘mirror’ of God’s Word and discover who God says we are. James 1:25, tells us how we can appropriate the real us- the true you- the person God sees. We can make our true identity a 'lived reality' in our lives.
First, we are to ‘look intently’ at who God calls us. If you lost an expensive diamond in a shag carpet you would look intently for it. We need to seek and discover ourselves in His Word as though our life depends on it- because it does.
Secondly, we’re to ‘abide by it’. That means we’re to figuratively pitch our tent and remain in the truth of what God says about us. We’ll be tempted to move, to pack our bags and go back to where we came from- but to be blessed, we need to ‘abide’ in who God says we are.
Thirdly, we’re to be ‘effectual doers’. Becoming an effectual doer means we’re to become skilled craftsmen in acting as though we are who God says we are. Just like an actor studies a character so they can be in character, we’re to study who we are in Christ and act as though it’s true.
When we look intently in the mirror of God's Word we discover who we are in Christ. When we decide that is how we’re going to live- we will be blessed.
