Have you ever gotten up in the morning, looked in the mirror, and were taken aback at how disheveled you looked?
What if you walked away from the mirror then, and never did anything to fix yourself up? What if you forgot what you looked like and then proceeded to go to work, school, or the store looking just like you did when you got out of bed?
I don’t know about you, but I would probably get a few quizzical looks from the people around me.
James uses this metaphor of looking into a mirror to explain our need to monitor our spiritual state as believers. The above scenario might sound silly, but when given a spiritual application, we might find that we do this far too often! God’s Word calls on us to look closely at our spiritual appearance and to seek the transformation that it should make in our lives.
Our Calling
James’ letter begins by encouraging believers to be patient and to learn from the trials they face, bringing them to maturity in their faith. He urges them to ask for wisdom, with full faith that God is there to give them all they need to live for His glory. He reminds them that worldly riches will pass away, and that true life and greater riches can be found in lowliness and humility that leads to a fuller and deeper trust and hope in God.
James warns them that if they are tempted to sin, this temptation is not from God; instead, it comes from their own hearts that have given root to deceit and have led to too much trust in themselves, rather than in the Lord. Living for the Lord means that we have constant access to unchanging and eternal “good” and “perfect” gifts (1:17) that empower us to be His witnesses in the world. We are thus to “produce the righteousness of God” (1:20) in word and deed and “lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness…” (1:21).
Testing Our Hearts
The problem is, we are susceptible to being deceived into thinking that we are living rightly before God, but meanwhile our lives don’t look any different than those outside of the faith. He calls on believers to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (1:22).
Only hearing, and not obeying, he explains, is like looking in a mirror at our face, then walking away, and forgetting what we look like – or in the case of a deeper, spiritual observation, we forget what kind of people that reflection tells us we are.
Hearing and not “doing” the word implies that we have not allowed God’s truth to change us. Our natural, spiritual state apart from God is one of filthy, ugly sin. To forget that is to forget the grace of God that saved us, and the high calling we have received as His people to reflect His goodness and glory before a watching world.
If we look at our spiritual state in the mirror and do not take time to note how we might live more fully for God and how we can become more Christlike, then we will become lazy in our witness, lazy in our mission. Others may look at our lives and see a disheveled mess – someone who hasn’t taken the time to consider how they look, how they appear, and what their reflection reveals. They certainly won’t see someone pointing them to the transformative love of God.
The Word of God should challenge our hearts, renew our spirits, transform our minds, and regenerate our light.
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
This is why James says those who look “into the perfect law of liberty” and continue in it, they are doing the word and not just hearing it. The Greek word used here for “looked” is not a passing glance, but rather the idea is of a person stooped down, bent over, with a curious and intent gaze to truly see the reflection and judge it rightly.
Our interaction with God’s Word should be much more than just hearing it preached on a Sunday morning, and more, even, than rote memorization of isolated verses or passages. The God of the universe, who holds all life and breath in His hands, has chosen to communicate with us on our level, and His instruction to us is paramount to knowing the way to fellowship with Him and the incomparable blessings that come through that. His Word deserves our attention, meditation, study, and application. God deserves our worship and praise and honor.
His Word gives us life and rest. It reminds us that we are needy people, but that He gives forgiveness and strength. In living in that state of reflection about our constant need for Him, we will present a much greater testimony to those around us who need that same life and hope that comes through surrender and trust.
Transforming Our Appearance
A person who is willing to intently consider his or her reflection, particularly in how it stands up to the Word of God, and who is willing to admit their heart needs to change to align better with the heart of God – that is a person who will represent God well in the world.
James teaches elsewhere in his letter that faith without works is dead (2:17). True faith cannot be separated by transformation in one’s life. The saving and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit causes the inner and outer person to become a united vessel for God’s honor and mission. One may claim to be “religious” yet their words and deeds do not match that claim. James calls such religion “useless” (1:26). Someone who does not control his tongue, someone who does not recognize that if they were truly living in faith before God their lives would be reflecting something much different, has been deceived. He or she has been satisfied in hearing the word, but not doing the word – the truth has not changed them. They do not do the works of God.
“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (1:27).
When you look in the spiritual mirror, does your way of life reflect the God you say that you serve? Are you actively seeking to meet the needs of the vulnerable and hurting around you? Are you seeking to honor God by living a holy life, submitted to Him and for His glory?
If not, take time today to sit before God and His Word, and let Him change you:
“…receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (1:21).
