Mirror for the Soul

Totally oblivious

I’ve had chalk dust, toothpaste, food, and worse on my face and didn’t realize it until someone told me or I saw it for myself in the mirror. I’ve had friends straighten my coat collar when it was folded the wrong way, or inform me I had missed a loop when putting on my belt.

When something like this happens, we may feel a bit embarrassed, but aren’t we also grateful that we are now aware of a problem we needed to correct? Until someone cared enough to tell us, we were blissfully unaware of how we looked.

What if a CAT scan reveals a tumor of which we were totally unaware? Until we know, how can we do anything about it?

Open to correction?

But what about our spiritual condition? If we are living outside the will of God but don’t realize it, would we want to know?

A related question: Do we take kindly to correction? To many in our super-sensitive culture today, being corrected is greatly resented, even when done gently and in love.

Not until Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus did Saul of Tarsus realize he was actually opposing God in his relentless hounding of the church (John 16:2; Acts 26:9-11). To his credit he made the needed changes, promptly and completely. What a blessing to the world he then became!

The Laodicean church thought they were doing quite well, thank you, until Jesus put a mirror to their face and forced them to see themselves as they really were—as Christ saw them (Revelation 3:14-22). It wasn’t a pretty picture. We do not know how they responded to His loving rebuke.

Facing the truth about ourselves

No wonder God gave us resources to help us see ourselves accurately. His word serves as a mirror for our souls (James 1:22-25). God also gave us each other to help us see things about ourselves we need to face (2 Samuel 12:1-15; Galatians 6:1).

“Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me; it is oil upon the head; do not let my head refuse it . . .” (Psalm 141:5). To see ourselves as we are can be painfully humiliating, but oh, how we need it!

Better to know now than to find out at the Judgment—when it will be too late, too late!

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

Who, Me? Prejudiced?

Prejudice is hard to admit.

Are my friends and acquaintances almost exclusively like me?

Do I fear what others might think if I associated with someone of another race?

Do I use slang expressions for other ethnicities?

Do I think in terms of “us” vs. “them”?

How would I feel if someone of another race moved next door?

How do I feel about my children playing with those of a different skin color?

Would I accept a blood transfusion if I knew it came from someone of a different race?

Do I ever read anything by an author from another ethnic group?

How God sees

“. .  . God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7b).

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

A Proofreader–How We Need One!

Error overlooked

In proofing my work, my mind sometimes plays tricks on me so that what I see is what I meant to write, not what I actually wrote.

On a moral level, this too can happen: aware of others’ shortcomings; blind to our own.

Error exposed

Like a mirror, the Scriptures reveal how God sees us—so we can make needed changes (James 1:22-25; Revelation 3:14-22).

In writing, I want to find my mistakes so I can correct them. But what about my life? Am I as motivated to discover my failures and correct them?

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139:23-24–emphasis added).

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com