Mirror Image part 4
If you don't know what you really look like--and you don't like what you THINK you look like--then it only makes sense for you to try as hard as you can to look like something (or someone) else. But when you do that, when you try to be someone you're not, what you end up doing is missing out on (and robbing others of) who you really are. Which is really kind of tragic because, well, look at Psalm 138:14, "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." You are fearfully and wonderfully made. And the correct response to seeing yourself that way--seeing yourself clearly because the light of the world is shining on you, and in you, and through you--is to praise God. Not to curse Him. Not to try to change. But to see the change that took place on the cross. Remember now, in the beginning we were made in the image of God. But we didn't know what WE looked like because we didn't know what HE looked like. We were dark, and void, and without form. So God said, "Let there be light." He gave us His only begotten Son, so that we might BE His only begotten Son. On the cross Jesus CONFORMED us to the image we were made in. He showed us who we really are by showing us who God really is. Jesus told Phillip, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." No man comes to the Father but by Jesus because you can't experience that Father/Son relationship until you know (and believe) that you ARE the Son! As He is, so are we in this world. I'm in Him, and He's in me, and He's in the Father. We are all together. And since He is altogether lovely... we are lovely all together! Different parts, but the same body. So when I look in the mirror--with an unveiled face... once the stone of the Law has been rolled away and I know there is no condemnation in Christ--I don't see surface stuff. I don't see blemishes and spots. I don't see mistakes and actions. I see what's underneath. What's deep inside. The inner man. The hidden man of the heart. And when I see it... I be it. Then the hidden man isn't hid anymore. The secret, Christ in you the hope of glory, is out! What's inside COMES out! Naturally. Simply by knowing and believing it's in there. Because a light doesn't try really hard to shine. A light shines because that's it's nature. It's not just what it does... it's who it is. God IS love. It's not just what He does... it's who He is! And (I'll say it again), as He is, so are we in this world. So His nature is OUR nature. He is love... and we are love. We are LOVED, and we are LOVE. It's not just what we do, it's who we are! We are His mirror image. Made in His image, and conformed to the image of His beloved Son. When you know you are loved, you can love. When you know God as your Father you can behave as His Son. You don't do in order to be, you do BECAUSE you be. When you see it... you be it. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. That's why the Father gave us the Son; so that we might have something to give to others. That's the New Commandment for the New Man: Love one another as Jesus loves you. Receive it and release it. Give what you've got. Be who you are!