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 Beyond the Mirror
by Phil Ware
Keep up with Phil on his blog! When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Ouch! What I see is the 10-20-30 syndrome: a guy who is 10 years older than I imagined myself to be, 20 lbs. heavier than I thought myself to be, and I have 30 fewer hair follicles than I had last week. Most of us find what we lack, what we are not. We're trained to see our blemishes, flaws, and imperfections. We're sensitive to our sags, bags, and wrinkles. Advertisers, social pressures, and our own vanity make us vulnerable to all sorts of products and sales pitches. We're too much, too little, or not enough like whatever mythical standard we have set for ourselves. On an even more serious note, we feel much the same spiritually. We focus on what we are not or what we have done or what we neglected to do. We forget we are people that God shaped with care, intention, and purpose from the moment of conception (Psalm 139:13-16). We lose sight of the truth that God is at work in us (Philippians 2:13). We discount the power of being God's special new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), the Father's artistic handiwork made to do something great for the Kingdom (Ephesians 2:10). How do we keep from glaring at what we are not in the mirror? How do we keep our spiritual failures and shortcomings from swamping our confidence in Christ? How do we settle ourselves in the great will of God and find our space to live, thrive, and bring our Savior glory? Jesus gave us two guiding principles and then gave us ways to hang on to these two principles in our lives. Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Then Jesus taught us to pray in a way that connected these two great principles into our daily routines: [Jesus said] This, then, is how you should pray: Jesus teaches us to look beyond the person we see in the mirror. He calls on us to pray a simple prayer each day that awakens our hearts to our dependence upon and love for the incredible God of the universe. He reminds us, however, that to honor God, we must be redemptively involved in the lives of others. In other words, we must love God with all that we are and live with our Father's character and compassion in relationship to others.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33). So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12). The apostle Paul takes up both of these two principles when he writes: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him [loving God], who have been called according to his purpose" [sharing God's love with others] (Romans 8:28). Then a little later in the same letter, he wrote: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is true worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2). Everything around us is going to scream for us to define ourselves by externals — by the flaws we see of ourselves in the mirror. The truth is, however, that image is always going to disappoint us unless we have our identities established in the two guiding truths of God: our love for God and our love for His children. After studying the following make LIFE Group and discussion questions, I'd love to get some of your responses on my blog (http://www.thephilfiles.com).
Title: "Beyond the Mirror" Author: Phil Ware Publication Date: March 26, 2009 |
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