Looking In The Mirror
Last week at Bible study, we were talking about holy living. Three of the questions were: what about our lives will attract people to Christ? How can I pay attention to developing inner character? What do I need to surrender to God?
Those questions hit me square between the eyes. Why? Because they are questions that I wrestle with daily. I don’t surrender everything to God – I try to handle things on my own, in my own timing. There are definitely things I need to change in my life so that I am a better representation of Christ. And I KNOW I can pay more attention to my inner character.
We each challenged each other to choose something that will help us develop our inner character more. For me, I chose to try to spend more time in God’s Word in a given day than in front of the mirror. I know that may seem like an odd challenge, but if I am spending more time on my physical looks than on my inner character, I feel I have something backwards – that I care more about my physical appearance than I do my faith/heart. And how is it going? It is hard! Granted I am not one that spends a lot of time in the bathroom, but between a shower and getting ready for work, it’s easy to spend more time in front of the mirror.
BUT.
This challenge has been incredibly worth it.
I now think about everything I do to myself – I actually find myself MORE satisfied with how I look, even with spending LESS time in front of the mirror b/c I know that each minute more I spend, it’s that much less time I have to spend in God’s Word. Again. It hasn’t always been easy. I feel it is paying dividends though.
I was reading the devotional Jesus Calling and I just have to share it:
Trust and thankfulness will get you safely through this day. Trust protects you from worrying and obsessing. Thankfulness keeps you from criticizing and complaining: those “sister sins” that so easily entangle you.
Keeping your eyes on Me is the same thing as trusting Me. It is a free choice that you must make thousands of times daily. The more you choose to trust Me, the easier it becomes. Thought patterns of trust become etched into your brain. Relegate troubles to the periphery of your mind, so that I can be central in your thoughts. Thus you focus on Me, entrusting your concerns into My care.
Words that sink in. Trusting is a FREE choice that we DO have to make THOUSANDS of times each day. And I have to say during those thousands of times, I don’t chalk up a “trust line” each time. I fail to trust God in the littlest things in life. But do I create a though pattern to do so? No. I start to worry about something and it just snowballs from there.
So whether it is focusing on my physical appearance or on my inner character, I have to just trust and thank God – for it is HIM who will solely get me through a day. It has nothing to do with me, but solely with Him.
