I’m Looking at the Woman in the Mirror

Yesterday, my morning prayer was: “Lord, please make me a reflection of You! May others see You in me!” Immediately, I heard, in my head, Michael Jackson’s song “I’m Looking at the Man in the Mirror”. I knew why. Days before, my debonair grandson who knows how to get to me, will either talk about his Papa or he’ll pull up a song from my era (Elvis, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, etc.) on his iPhone playlist while we’re driving. He asks: “Nana, do you remember this one?” Oh yes I do! He is a charmer and knows how to “ring my bell”! Michael’s song went like this:
“I’m starting with the man in the mirror.
I’m asking him to change his ways.
And no message could have been any clearer.
If you want to make the world a better place.
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change.”

Certainly good words to live by – being honest about who we are and what we can do to change our ways. Instead of looking at the faults in others, to look inward at ourselves. I get that, but my prayer yesterday was for the reflection I see to be my Lord.

Every day, we come face to face with a glance or a hard look at ourselves in a mirror. That first glance can often be a bit scary – our hair going every which way, eyes dazed, faces with creases from a hard sleep. Sometimes, facing our mirror and our reflection isn’t exactly a pleasant experience. Mirrors are brutally honest. They don’t lie. They don’t hide the wrinkles, the flaws, the signs of aging. They don’t typically say back to us “You’re looking good today!” They usually tell us to make some adjustments: comb your hair, put on a little make-up or for men – shave that “5 am shadow”. Actually, mirrors are a good thing. We face the truth, make some changes and feel a little better about facing the world.

But, this day – I wasn’t asking God for that mirror. I asked for the mirror, or the reflection, looking back at me to be a reflection of Jesus. That can be a difficult reflection to see. Like that Michael Jackson song, looking at the man or woman in the mirror is more about the inside than the outside. Getting a clear vision of what needs to change. To look with eyes wide-open at the character flaws or the obvious lack of the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control that is needing some adjustments.

James 1:23-24 says “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.” That scripture implies we don’t want to seriously confront that “man or woman in the mirror”.

When we look at the mirror for exterior perfection, we’ll never find it. But, if we start our day, each day, with that first prayer of asking to be a reflection of Jesus, we’ll start to see His character, His beautiful grace and love to a hurting world instead of placing importance on make-up, shine-up, or dress-up.

The best mirror for checking out ourselves is the perfect mirror of God’s Word … Holy Scriptures. And, the only perfect image is Jesus. From that perspective, we can daily examine ourselves in THAT mirror and ask the question: Am I being all that God that God has called me to be? Am I allowing Him to mold me? Instead of looking at the man in the mirror and asking him to change his ways, we look to our perfect Make-up and Shine-Up Artist (for inside and out perfection) to transform us into His reflection by filling us full of His light and His glory! Then we will reflect His love, His truthfulness, His joy, His forgiveness and mercy to others, His selflessness, His servitude. That’s the woman in the mirror I want to see and be! How about you?