Who Do You See When You Look in the Mirror?

Tonight I have a very personal question I want to ask you. And so…do you want to know what the question is that I have for you tonight? I want to you give this question some thought before you answer, because how you answer could make the difference between the Holy Spirit being able to actually work in and through your life or not. Also, I’m going to be sharing some scriptures that will help us to see what the Bible has to say, so be sure to stay with me all the way until the end and jot down the scriptures so you can think about it later on, because I think these scriptures may surprise you. So here’s the question…when you look in the mirror every day, who is that person that you see looking back at you? I want to think about two different aspects of that question…The first one: Who do you see yourself as, and the second one is who is it that other people see when they look at you? So let’s talk about that… 

You wake up in the morning, you go into the bathroom, you take a shower, you drink your coffee, eat your breakfast…and then you go back into the bathroom to brush your teeth, comb your hair, and get dressed for your day. Whatever your daily routine is, you probably look at yourself in the mirror several times before you even step out of your house. And then, throughout your day, you go to the bathroom several times at work, and you take a quick glance into the mirror to make sure your hair is okay and you look presentable. But let me ask you this…with all the times that you see yourself in the mirror throughout the day, do you ever stop and think about who that person really is that’s staring back at you? No, I’m not talking about your hairstyle or your makeup routine, or whether you need some new clothes or not. All those things are fine, but those things are superficial. The person I’m talking about is the REAL YOU, that person who lives behind the makeup, the clothes, the hairstyle… the person who lives inside your body, inside your mind, the person you really are on the inside…in your heart.  Who’s THAT person? Do you ever take time to take inventory of who you are in your inner being? What’s your personality like? What’s your heart like? Are you a loving and compassionate person? Are you a person who people come to when they need to talk? Do you make yourself available to encourage others, to love others…to just be there when someone needs a friend? Do you ever check out your own heart to make sure that everything is okay between you and God? And I want you to give this some real thought…is there anything in your life that ONLY God sees, and He’s been dealing with you about…but maybe you just haven’t been listening? 

Okay…let’s look at some scriptures…one of my favorite scriptures that has to do with “self-examination” was a psalm written by King David, and it’s found in Psalm 139 verses 23-24. Actually you should read the whole psalm because it’s an amazing prayer. But verses 23 and 24 says,

“Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.”
(Psalm 139:23-24) 

What an AWESOME prayer to begin our day with. “Search me, O God, and know my heart.”  Ya know many times when I have taken communion in a church service, a lot of times they read the scripture about taking the elements “unworthily”? In fact, that’s a good one for this study so let’s look at it. It’s found in 1 Corinthians 11:27-30: 

“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.” (1 Corinthians 11:27-30) 

So what is Paul talking about here? Well the context of this scripture is talking about the attitudes that people have when they come to partake of the Lord’s Supper. Some are pushing ahead of others, others are using this as their meal time because they are hungry. They are not using this time as it is intended, to commemorate the death of Jesus. They are not doing it in a way that honors the Lord. So Paul is saying they are partaking “unworthily” And he is saying that by doing this, they are bringing judgement upon themselves, and some are bringing sickness…and even premature death by doing so. And so, as we can see here, our attitude, or our motive is important to God. We need to do like David did, and ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts for any wrong motives or any bad attitudes that we may have before we partake of the elements of communion. 

I remember this one particular Sunday morning, I had had a disagreement with a friend online that morning before I went to church, and then I hurriedly got dressed for church and sat in the pew during the whole service with my smug attitude. But then they started passing out the communion elements, and the Holy Spirit absolutely convicted me for the unforgiveness I was holding in my heart…and for the first time since I’ve been a Christian, I had to by-pass communion that morning and I had to go home and make things right with my friend so that I could feel right in my heart again. I knew that God was not pleased with my attitude that day…and so I needed to repent. 

Friends…I want you to understand that God is a God of the motives and intents of our hearts…He not only cares about WHAT we do, but He also cares about WHY we do it. So this prayer that David prayed is a prayer that we need to memorize, and also keep close to our hearts.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.”
(Psalm 139:23-24)

Okay, this second scripture I want to share is especially for you Ladies…in 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 3-4, Peter wrote this:

“Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” (1 Peter 3:3-4) 

And Paul also wrote to Timothy:

“in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works.” (1 Timothy 2:9-10) 

That word “moderation” could also be translated to mean “discretion”. So what both of these men of God are saying here is that women should spend more time, effort and money adorning our inward being than our outward appearance, so that we will be pleasing to God rather than man.  

And do you remember the story about when God sent the prophet Samuel to find and anoint a new king for Israel? When Samuel saw Jesse’s oldest son Eliab, he was sure that this was the one that God had chosen to be the next king of Israel…but in1 Samuel 16:7, the Lord said something to Samuel that would be wise for us to pay attention to. He said, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him, for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) 

There it is Friends…this is the message that I want us to understand tonight…God is a God of the heart! He does not look on the outward appearance, as important as that is to us…but God is much more concerned with the condition of our hearts. Friends…as children of God, we need to concentrate on making sure that our lives are bringing glory and honor to the Lord. It’s fine to wear nice clothes, have a good hair style, wear a bit of makeup and a little jewelry…but according to scripture, we need to put our emphasis on the way that we treat people, the way we love people, if we have compassionate hearts, how we think in our hearts. What we need to be looking for when we look at that person in the mirror is this…is that person who looks back at me someone who pleases God? And if we are giving more attention to allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us, then our lives should be producing the fruit that Paul mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23. He said, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23). When our lives are producing these fruits, then we can know that the person we see in the mirror is someone who is a man or woman who pleases God. Amen?

Well Friends, that’s it for tonight. I hope you have been blessed by this message, and I hope that the next time you look in the mirror, you will think a little differently about who it is who is looking back at you. Before I leave you today, let me pray with you. Bow your heads with me if you will. 

Prayer:

Father, it is the deepest desire of our hearts to most of all, be pleasing to You. Would You please examine our hearts tonight Father, and help us to learn how to keep pure motives and intentions before You? Would You show us anything in our hearts that we need to do differently? Would You help us to allow the Holy Spirit to produce His beautiful fruit in our lives? We want to be known first of all as faithful sons and daughters of God. Father, give us loving and compassionate hearts so that others will know that if they need encouragement, if they need prayer, if they need someone they can talk to, we are always available to be the friend you want us to be. We love You Father, and we praise You for all that You are and all that You want to be in our lives. Thank you Lord…We love You…In Jesus Name…Amen!