How many times in a day do we notice our reflection? Mirrors are found within the house, the car, the bathroom, at work. We see our reflections staring back at us in the glass fronts of office buildings and shops, puddles, lakes, shiny metal objects, even spoons!
How often, though, do we look in our spiritual mirror?
The Apostle James uses the analogy of a mirror to illustrate the responsibility of those who hear the truth of God.
“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:23-25; New King James Version).
God’s law is like a piece of reflective glass, a spiritual mirror. It reflects our spiritual image, just as a physical mirror reflects our physical image.
Like a physical mirror, God’s law supplies another perspective. When we look at that law, we see a reflection of ourselves from God’s point of view.We see our faults and our sins—everything about us that must change. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 3:20, “by the law is the knowledge of sin.” The law defines sin (1 John 3:4) and also reveals sin in us. God’s law shows us how we are doing spiritually.
This passage in James points to the responsibility that such knowledge brings. We must view ourselves in the mirror with the intent of recognizing what needs to be fixed. Similar to when we use a physical mirror to see how to perfect our outward appearance, we must use our spiritual mirror to see how to perfect our spiritual character. The mirror in and of itself cannot and will not change us. The responsibility of doing is on us.
The time we make for prayer and Bible study is crucial to starting off our day correctly. But as James wrote, we must not just see ourselves in the morning mirror, and then walk away and forget about it. We must remember to take that law with us wherever we go and check regularly to see how we are doing. It takes a constant, diligent effort to perfect our spiritual appearance and character.
That is why King David wrote in Psalm 119:97, “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” This is key: We must make this law part of us “all the day.”
The morning mirror will reveal what we must work on, but constantly going back to the mirror will show us the progress we are making. It will remind us of the dirt that still needs to be washed from our faces.
Think of a hand or pocket mirror, something that can be carried around with us wherever we are. That is what the law of God must be like in our lives: a constant reminder of what we need to do to achieve our incredible potential.
And once we learn of a sin, we should make the corrections immediately. If we wait, we will be like the man who walks off and forgets what the mirror showed him.
Physical mirrors can be used to expose physical flaws in appearance, but it takes a focused, spiritual mind to use the law of God to its fullest extent. How many mirrors do we see in a day? How often do we notice our spiritual reflection? Look to that perfect law of liberty, see your flaws, and then do what must be done to change what must be changed.