The Mirror Effect

The purpose of the mirror is to tell you exactly how you look; it will never ever lie to you. Try it. Pick up a mirror right now and look at your self. It will tell you how many wrinkles you have, whether you need make up or not (perhaps surgery), maybe a little less make-up (seriously. Guys don’t like clowns), it’ll suggest some shaving, or some pimple popping, and/or getting a haircut. I really do not know, what I do know is that a mirror will never lie to you; it will show you reality even though you may not like it.

On the other hand, some people, after hearing the ruthless-unforgiving truths of a mirror, will search for other opinions. “Honey, does this dress make me look fat?” “How do I look?” You see, these are questions that must be considered intelligently before answering them. If you say, “Honey, you are fat regardless of what you put on”, then most likely you will sleep on the couch for the following few days. On top of that, you will now have to wait at least another hour for her find and put something new on. You will have the same outcome if you look up and down and think about your answer for more than 2 seconds.

Now if, you want her happy, have been waiting for more than an hour, don’t want to sleep on the couch, and need to get out of the house ASAP because you are 45 minutes late, then your answer must be “Honey, you look great! Get in the car! Let’s go!” But perhaps you might have said a “little” lie or a “white” lie just to get what you want.

Among the seven abominations that Proverbs 6:17-19 mentions, we found a “lying tongue” (17) being one of them. He detests such thing so much that in verse 19 He mentions it again saying, “a false witness who pours out lies,” making “lying” 2 abominations out of the 7. Bottom line is that God condemns with passion he who speaks lies. Proverbs 12:22 declares again that the Lord “detests lying lips,” perhaps for the fact that “Satan is the father of lies” and we become his children when we do so (John 8:44).

But things get more real when we consider our daily lives in the light of the mirror effect, because God regularly uses this method to show you what you are really made of. God often will snatch your relationship by causing a break-up between you two. At the end of the day, when you consider how childish and obstinate you reacted in the process of the break-up, He will put up the mirror and show you how you have lied about loving Him more than anybody else. You will see, through this mirror, that your ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend sat deeper in your heart than God did.

In other occasions, you will find yourself trying to sell a car that is damaged. The cost of repairs will simply sacrifice your budget. But you can figure a way out to sell the vehicle without the buyer noticing the defects; otherwise you will get next to nothing. “Each man for himself” says society. “Get rich or die trying,” says 50 cent. “F life before life F’s you” said my high-school friends. But what hurts God’s heart the most is when you don’t believe in society, 50 cents, or your high-school friends, but believe and profess that God is your God, yet do not live by this same faith.

Whether you sold the car or not, ripped off your neighbor by selling him a piece of junk or not, sooner or later God will put up the mirror and say, “and you often announce that I am God and have never forsaken my children? Look how much you love me.”

So let me ask you, what situation are you going through right now in which you can see God putting up the mirror and asking you a few questions? Are you living but what you preach? Do you walk the talk? What do you see in this mirror? What are you really made of?

I praise Jesus for there is hope in Him. Because “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more!” We are all damaged and tend fall very often. But, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!” For in Jesus there is victory, in Jesus we are made new, in Jesus we find second chances, and through Jesus we are justified and sanctified (Romans 5:20; 6:1-2).

You know, the mirror in your house and the mirror that God shows us may tell us things that we may not like. In fact, sometimes it hurts very much. But the great news about this fact is that its simply reality. But through Jesus we can make drastic changes to better our lives.  There are sooooooooooo many promises in the Bible the follower of God can claim; yet we do not. So, today, get on your knees, meditate on the image you see through the mirror God is holding up, say what you have to say to God, ask for forgiveness, and CLING onto those promises, because He who started this work on you will be faithful to finish it!

God bless you.