I want you to close your eyes for about 5 seconds, and think about how you look. What did you see? I'll tell you what I saw. I saw a young man with a head full of hair, 34 waist, and rock hard body. When I open my eyes and look in the mirror, that image is altered. I have a little less hair, okay a lot less hair, a 36 waist, and body parts that are more like jello than Gibraltar. I mean, my eyes are the same color and I am the same height, but I have changed. I am not the same person, physically, I was five or ten years ago. Some of those changes I embrace, some others I deny, and others I really don't care about. Isn't it true that when we look in the mirror, we see what we want to see and ignore what we don't want to see?
I believe this to be true of our inner lives as well. When someone holds up a mirror to our inner lives, we see what we want to see and ignore what we don't want to see. Looking into the mirror of the Bible and spending time confessing our sins to God and others is a sure way of practicing an often overlooked, but sorely needed spiritual habit – self reflection or self examination. Self reflection helps us to see where the flaws and potential flubs are in our lives. I have made some dumb mistakes that could have been easily avoided if only I had taken time to practice self reflection and self examination. Self reflection helps us to see who we really are and who we are becoming. Each day, when we look into the mirror of Holy Scriptures, we have a chance to determine if we are going to be destructive or imaginative, holy or soiled, compassionate or selfish. This is the reason why attending worship is so important. It is in worship where we meet our loving and perfect Father. As we bask in his presence, we are taken far away from the frenetic lives we lead and it is where we make decisions about what kind of person we desire to be and become in the world. Ponder these questions with me:
Are you smarter than you were yesterday?
Are you making better decisions in your personal and professional life than you did yesterday?
Are you saying no to sin more today than you did yesterday? Last week? Last year?
Are you kinder to others and yourself than you were yesterday?
Are you more patient than you were yesterday or last week?
Are you calmer and less anxious than you were yesterday, last week, or last year?
Are you more caring and passionate than you were yesterday?
Are you becoming the person you want to become? That God desires you to become?
Martin Buber said, "You cannot find redemption until you see the flaws in your own soul, and try to efface them. Nor can a people be redeemed until they see the flaws in its soul and try to efface them. However, whether it is an individual or a people, whoever shuts out their flaws is shutting out redemption. We can be redeemed only to the extent to which we see ourselves."
Let's hold up the mirror to our inner life and let God, through his word, show us who we are and the people he desires us to become.
Tell me what you think.
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Tags: Self Examination, Self Reflection
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February 18th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
On the flip side of this, their are many of us who look in the mirror and see ONLY the flaws and potential flubs. Allowing God to lead us through self examination we can learn what our strengths are. Through worship, God can reveal what gifts he’s given us. In knowing and embracing the strengths and gifts God has blessed us with, we are better able to serve Christ and become who he has called us to be!
February 18th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
D.C. you are absolutely right. It is the dirt and the grime that keeps the brilliance of our lives from being seen. God has blessed us with so much and he desires his light to shine through us. Let’s wipe off the dust bunnies and let the beauty of his presence be on display. Thanks for the insight.