Mirror
By Christine Peavey
James 1:23-25
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.
Do you think a mirror provides a reflection of your soul? What do you see when you look at your reflection in the mirror? Are you looking at a person worthy of the Father? Are you looking at a person controlled by the world and fleshly desires?
The nursery rhyme about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has the following line:
Mirror, Mirror on the wall
Who is the fairest of them all
The evil Queen was upset when the mirror responded that Snow White was the fairest of them all. The Queen like many of us wanted to be the most beautiful. She was controlled by her conceit which lead her to poison Snow White. She thought getting rid of the competition would give her what she desired most. In the nursery rhyme, along comes a prince who kisses Snow White bringing her back to life. Think about your relationship with the Father, when you made the decision to follow him, did his ‘kiss’ bring you back to life?
The queen in the nursery rhyme believed the outward reflection was what mattered.
If you wear a shirt with words on it and look in the mirror, the letters are backwards. Our reflection is the opposite of us.
Outward vs. Inward reflection.
The month of Elul a period of reflection and repentance. Are you standing with your back to the Father? Are you facing the Father?
Have you been trying to solve a problem on your own? Not relying on the Father to help. Have you turned your back to the Father and all the promises HE made in the Bible.
Looking glass
Still Water – When you look at your reflection in still water it is like looking in a mirror. But if you touch the water your reflection with become distorted or go away completely.
Illusion
Wall of mirrors - Have you ever been to the carnival and walked through the wall of mirrors? When you look in one mirror you look short and fat, the next mirror you look tall and skinny, another your head is huge and your body is small. All these reflections are a distorted image of you.
Is what you see in the mirror a true reflection of you? Or could it be the reflection that you want to see? Are you focusing on the outward appearance? When the Father looks at you, he does not see what is on the outside. He is concerned with the inside. Where is your heart?
Now think about your reflection in other people’s eyes. What do they see? What do your actions tell them about you?
When my children were little and did something that was wrong to one of their siblings, I would try to turn it around and ask them “How would you feel if that was done to you?” Most of the time they would answer “I wouldn’t like it”. That was exactly the point I was trying to make with them. Think about your life. What have you done in your life that you would not want someone to do to you? Lied? Snapped at someone just because you were having a bad day? Stole something? Spread Gossip? Treated someone unfairly? The list is endless. Now think about this, when you did those things, you did them to the Father as well!
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.
Do you think a mirror provides a reflection of your soul? What do you see when you look at your reflection in the mirror? Are you looking at a person worthy of the Father? Are you looking at a person controlled by the world and fleshly desires?
The nursery rhyme about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has the following line:
Mirror, Mirror on the wall
Who is the fairest of them all
The evil Queen was upset when the mirror responded that Snow White was the fairest of them all. The Queen like many of us wanted to be the most beautiful. She was controlled by her conceit which lead her to poison Snow White. She thought getting rid of the competition would give her what she desired most. In the nursery rhyme, along comes a prince who kisses Snow White bringing her back to life. Think about your relationship with the Father, when you made the decision to follow him, did his ‘kiss’ bring you back to life?
The queen in the nursery rhyme believed the outward reflection was what mattered.
If you wear a shirt with words on it and look in the mirror, the letters are backwards. Our reflection is the opposite of us.
Outward vs. Inward reflection.
The month of Elul a period of reflection and repentance. Are you standing with your back to the Father? Are you facing the Father?
Have you been trying to solve a problem on your own? Not relying on the Father to help. Have you turned your back to the Father and all the promises HE made in the Bible.
Looking glass
Still Water – When you look at your reflection in still water it is like looking in a mirror. But if you touch the water your reflection with become distorted or go away completely.
Illusion
Wall of mirrors - Have you ever been to the carnival and walked through the wall of mirrors? When you look in one mirror you look short and fat, the next mirror you look tall and skinny, another your head is huge and your body is small. All these reflections are a distorted image of you.
Is what you see in the mirror a true reflection of you? Or could it be the reflection that you want to see? Are you focusing on the outward appearance? When the Father looks at you, he does not see what is on the outside. He is concerned with the inside. Where is your heart?
Now think about your reflection in other people’s eyes. What do they see? What do your actions tell them about you?
When my children were little and did something that was wrong to one of their siblings, I would try to turn it around and ask them “How would you feel if that was done to you?” Most of the time they would answer “I wouldn’t like it”. That was exactly the point I was trying to make with them. Think about your life. What have you done in your life that you would not want someone to do to you? Lied? Snapped at someone just because you were having a bad day? Stole something? Spread Gossip? Treated someone unfairly? The list is endless. Now think about this, when you did those things, you did them to the Father as well!