“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 the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and preserves, being no hearer but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

James 1:23-25

Have you ever stopped to think about the amount of time, money, and energy we put into trying to perfect our image? People look to diets and surgeries or overspend on apparel and cosmetics to change their appearance. Why? Everyone wants to be appealing and attractive. As humans, we want to look in the mirror and like what we see. It gives us confidence, and to a certain extent, it makes us happy when we are content with our outward appearance. To place time and effort into trying to look nice and healthy isn’t wrong. But we need to ask ourselves, “Am I spending more time working on my outward self or on the most important part of myself, my soul?”

Let’s take a moment to think about the reflection that starts from the inside out: our soul’s reflection. Through His word, God shows us a completely new way to work on our image. A way that changes how others see us and how we see ourselves. He tells us to start with the soul, the source of our external actions and appearances. In James 1: 23-25, we read of a new kind of mirror that reveals our hearts, “the perfect law, the law of liberty” (v25). This mirror still exposes imperfections, but it’s not made of glass. It’s forged by God Himself through His divinely inspired words. That’s right. The most powerful mirror in the world is a book, the Bible. God intends for us to look into the word, “the perfect law,” and be a “doer who acts” (v25).

How many of us roll out of bed in the morning, see messy hair, dirty teeth, and sloppy pajamas in the mirror and walk away without at least straightening up a little? Unless, we work from home, chances are we fix every flaw we can before stepping away from the mirror and out into the world. Similarly, God instructs us, as Christians, to take routine looks at our hearts through the mirror of His word and fix what needs fixing. God does not want us to merely be “hearers” who look into the spiritual mirror, see our souls’ flaws, walk away, and immediately forget what we look like (v24). As Christians, our very title implies that we strive to model ourselves after Christ! The truth in God’s mirror is not intended to discourage by showing imperfections, but to encourage by revealing our need for Him in our lives. God has provided us the clearest, most accurate source of reflection and self-improvement, and if we use this incredible gift properly, our souls will be transformed daily to look more like our loving Savior, Jesus.

Thanks for reading!