The Bible compares the Word of God to a mirror in which the Christian looks at himself.

“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…” (James 1:23-24).

“What is good with God is that He reveals our errors and faults to us and also shows us the way we must take to no longer commit them.”

“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 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…” James 1:22-25 Read more

This passage of Scripture tells us that the Word of God is like a mirror that reveals to us who we are in Christ, by Him and with Him. God, very aware that spiritual truths are hardly accessible to human intelligence, uses many images, illustrations to make us understand His will, His requirements, His standards, His expectations. Because, by using a 100% spiritual language, He knows that man will not grasp much of it.

This is why, remember the parables of the Lord Jesus, which were actually small stories related to the daily lives of people of His time. These stories were illustrations of great spiritual truths about the kingdom of God, salvation, the character of true disciples,… These verses from the book of James invite us not to forget who we are in Christ. These passages reveal to us that the word of God is like a mirror that speaks to us about ourselves and shows us as God sees us.

Many Christians often forget, especially in the face of adversity, who they are in Christ, what they have in Christ, and what they are capable of doing in Christ. You who are reading this thought, be encouraged every day to always look into the mirror of God, His word, to see yourself as He sees you and to do what He asks you to do. You know as much as I do that every mirror speaks. By looking at ourselves, when we notice that our shirt is poorly buttoned, for example, we immediately fix the defect, don’t we?

Why do we fix the defect? Simply because by looking at ourselves, the mirror has indicated, revealed this defect to us. Imagine a life without a mirror. Many would leave their house with half-combed hair, poorly worn pants, unwashed faces, etc.

In general, it has been shown that it is difficult for men and especially for women to live without a mirror or to glance into the mirror. If naturally, we understand the importance of the mirror, God through this passage from James, also reminds us of the importance for man to always plunge his gaze into God’s perfect law, into His living and transformative Word.

My friends, what God reveals to us about ourselves and our hearts is true. What is good with God is that He reveals our errors and faults to us and also shows us the way we must take to no longer commit them. In the dead ends caused by our life of sin and rebellion against divine instructions, God in His love always shows us the escape routes and the paths of distress.

May we trust Him as we do with our mirror and learn to always readjust what needs to be in our lives, through the Word of God. The Word of God serves a dual purpose: it shows us what we are and reveals to us what we are called to be. When it shows us what we are, it is not to make us feel guilty but to encourage us to desire to resemble Christ, the perfect model. When the mirror reflects to me the image of a face stained with paint, I do everything to remove these stains.

Likewise, when the mirror of my soul, which is the Word of God, shows me that certain things do not align with what God expects of me, it is my responsibility to let the pure water of the Word cleanse my soul. You may be tempted to set aside this mirror in order to forget what you are. But forgetting will bring no change. Denying what you are will not help you change.

The Word of God serves a dual purpose: it shows us what we are and reveals to us what we are called to be. A missionary offered, to the queen of an aboriginal tribe, a mirror. She didn’t know what this object was. When she took it in her hand and looked at it, she asked the missionary who gave her this picture of her grandmother? She had no idea that what she saw was the reflection of her own face. All her courtiers told her that she was beautiful, young, splendid!

The mirror told her the truth, but she paid no attention to it. You may have a good opinion of yourself, you may believe in the flattery and praise of those around you, but only the Word will tell you the truth about yourself and help you to resemble more and more the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul enlightens us on this subject in the following verse:

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

Paul prays for what? That these Christians be sanctified completely in the three areas that make up the totality of the human personality: spirit, soul, and body…

This text is an excerpt from the book “Glasses And Mirrors Of The Bible” written by Jérémie TCHINDEBE.

We invite you to read the following article “Can Man Live Without God?“.