Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works-this person will be blessed in what he does.   James 1:23-25 CSB

I hope you were able to attend a church service yesterday or at least watch one online. We must study the word both through reading and listening. But Bible study or church attendance is useless if we only hear the information and don’t put it to use.

In our Scripture passage, James is comparing hearing God’s word to looking in a mirror.  Why do we look in a mirror? I don’t know about you, but usually, I look in a mirror to see what improvements need to be made.

A friend of mine shared a funny story with me years ago. She was in Baton Rouge having lunch with a friend when the friend spotted an anchorwoman from a local news program. The friend was so excited and wanted to go up and introduce her and tell her how much she enjoyed her reporting.

My friend tried to tell her she had a piece of spinach stuck in her front tooth. She was so excited to go and speak to this local celebrity that she didn’t stop to listen to my friend. When she returned to the table, my friend told her about the spinach. She was then angry that my friend let her go talk to this woman with spinach in her teeth.

Now, I’m sure if she had taken time to check her reflection in a mirror, she would have seen this piece of spinach and removed it. Hearing God’s word is like looking in a mirror. When we hear God’s word it instructs us on how we should live our lives. It points out things that need to be removed like bitterness, anger, wrath, shouting and slander, and malice (Ephesians 4:31).

It also tells us what needs to be added like kindness, compassion, and forgiving one another as Christ forgives us (Ephesians 4:32).

So, imagine you look in the mirror and you see a huge piece of spinach stuck on your tooth. Or perhaps you see a big smudge of dirt. The point of looking in the mirror would be to remove these things right. You would want to remove the spinach. You might want to get a washcloth and clean your face.

Why then, would you go to church, listen to God’s word, and not remove the things that need to be removed?

If I’m totally honest, there are times when I go to church stressed out about something in my personal life. Now we are not to worry or be stressed. Jesus tells us this in Matthew 6:25-34. This stress from my personal life bleeds into my church attendance and I find myself being more easily agitated, more judgmental, less kind, and less compassionate.

This puts me just where the devil wants me, doesn’t it? I am not only looking in the mirror and not fixing the problems. I am looking in the mirror and kidding myself by saying the spinach or the dirt isn’t even there. I may as well be looking into a shattered mirror.

When you look in the mirror of God’s word what do you see? Do you see yourself as a picture of perfection? Are you grateful that you are not like others in your church? Well, you better find another mirror. That one is broken.

My friend, we are all sinners in need of a savior (Romans 3:23). We all have things that need to be cleaned up or removed from our lives. God’s word is the mirror that shows us these things. Study your Bible. Listen intently to a good Bible-teaching pastor. Reflect on what you have studied and been told.

Lastly, get busy doing God’s word. Clean up what is dirty. Remove things that don’t fit into a Christian lifestyle. Be doers of God’s word.

Have a great day!