Mirror, Mirror

 

Living in a 100-year-old home can offer some unique challenges. One is that we have had to find creative ways to store things (we have two very small closets in the entire home--one in a front room with no door and one in our master bedroom).  Another odd thing about the home was the fact that the only mirror (in the one bathroom it had) was on the medicine cabinet.  You could only see your face in that mirror.  I always felt a little sorry for my children who couldn't see themselves until they were old enough to hop up on the counter (or were held up to the mirror by a parent).

The one other mirror in the home was an antique dresser with an attached mirror. Our bedroom is so small that there is only a narrow walkway between the dresser and my side of the bed.  The glass on the mirror is old and semi-rippled and starting to oxidize. And because you couldn't really step back from the dresser (without running into the bed), you didn't really get a full picture of yourself from that mirror either.

After a few years, we did add a second bathroom in our basement that did have a larger mirror, but I was in the habit of taking a bath at night in the bathroom with the small mirror. So I often went long periods of time without truly seeing what I looked like. Visiting my parents' home, it was always a rude awakening to step out of the shower and see my true reflection in their wall-to-wall and counter-to-ceiling mirror. Those were times when I fooled myself into thinking that ignorance was bliss (I was anything but happy in my obesity!)

I was thinking about how the lack of mirrors in my home helped sustain my state of denial about my health.  When I was out and about, I avoided looking at myself in mirrors or reflections in windows.  I hated trying on clothes (I usually brought things home to try, returning what didn't fit). And I especially hated having my picture taken because it so glaringly revealed the truth about my weight. I wish I had allowed those unpleasant truths to spur me into action much earlier in life.  

For me, mirrors were a form of condemnation. But sometimes a mirror can be a great help! I think we have all been in situations where we leave the home, only to find later that we may have misbuttoned our shirt, missed a stain, or had some food between our teeth. I often realized too late that I'd dripped toothpaste on my shirt or maybe missed that my sweater was pulled up in back. With our one small mirror, if I ever wanted to see my back, I had to stand on the edge of the tub, try to hold another mirror  over my shoulder, and stay balanced to see my reflection. And even then, I wasn't getting the full picture--there were blind spots in what was reflected. 

A mirror is meant to accurately reflect our image. If it has distortions, blemishes or cracks, it won't offer a true picture. The world is filled with a myriad of philosophies and worldviews. Sadly, many of them offer a distorted view of reality. Think of the funhouse mirrors at a carnival: some make you look bendy, super tall, very wide, or misshapen. In the years when I only saw what I wanted to see or telling myself that I didn't have a problem, I was using a distorted mirror to evaluate myself.

For believers, the Bible offers a mirror for our soul and when we look into it, it should result in acting upon what we read. James 1:23-25 says:

"For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it--not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it--they will be blessed in what they do."

I may "look intently" at Scripture during the moments of my devotions, and then get distracted and run into my day, completely forgetting what I even read.  Forgetting the image it held up before me of areas that needed to be surrendered, sin that needed to be confessed, and actions that needed to be obeyed.

Scripture offers the only accurate picture of not only the state of man, but also the character of God. And just as the natural man walks away from the mirror and forgets what he looks like, we often walk away from the mirror of God's Word and forget what He has said. 

Much like I had made a habit of avoiding mirrors that would reveal the truth about my obesity, I have often been guilty of neglecting the mirror of God's Word to avoid the truth about unpleasant aspects of my character. When I have lost my temper with my spouse or a child, have I sought the mirror of Scripture to reveal that sin so that I can confess it? Or have I looked into a funhouse mirror and seen only the perceived faults of others?  When I have failed to show compassion to someone, have I opened the Word to convict me of that failure, or have I defended my actions as justified them because I deemed others unworthy?  When we see others sin, we have no trouble wielding the Sword of truth to attack someone else. But how often do we point that Sword of conviction at our own heart and its motives and actions? 

We all love the passages about God's forgiveness, compassion, and mercy.  But as believers, we aren't held responsible for only the Scripture that comforts and offers peace. We are responsible to obey all of its teachings. And that means we need to consult the mirror of God's Word frequently so that we can see our heart rightly and surrender areas that don't accurately reflect Christ's image. We need to smash those funhouse mirrors that have kept us believing lies about God as well as ourselves. Ignorance of the true state of our heart is most definitely NOT bliss.

Just as ignoring what my true image looked like did not change the fact of my obesity (nor its dire consequences), ignoring our spiritual state does not alter the fact of sin's penalty. According to James 1:22, being in the Word is supposed to lead to action: "Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." Notice the imperative command to DO! If you do not yet know Christ, the most important action would be to surrender your life to Him. Rid your life of those mirrors that lie to you and tell you that you don't need a Savior.

Once you have traded your false mirror for the truth of God's Word, we are to apply what we read and hear, and do something about it. We are deceiving ourselves when we look in the mirror of God's Word and fail to address problem areas in our life. Ultimately, we should desire more than anything to allow the Lord to transform us into the image of Christ. 

The promise of 2 Corinthians 3:18 is meant for all believers:

"And we all, with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." 

In your physical life, are you avoiding the mirror that reveals what needs to be changed? Are you avoiding people who may bring you under conviction that you are harming yourself by remaining in your unhealthy state? And in your spiritual life, are you avoiding the mirror of God's Word and looking instead into a funhouse mirror that distorts the reality as God designed it?

Look deeply into the mirror of God's Word, for it is the only right and true reflection of reality. Memorizing his Word is like carrying a compact mirror with you wherever you go, allowing you to make course corrections and be transformed more and more into His likeness. According to 1 Timothy 3:16-17:

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, that the servant of God, may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Let the mirror of God's Word, remake you from the inside out. And as your spirit is transformed, the habits and bondage of the body can also be transformed.