Teaching Truth: When the Mirror Lies

Every morning, we look into a mirror. We see the same face we saw yesterday. We recognize the person staring back at us. And whether we realize it or not, we have already formed an opinion about that person.

Successful.

Failure.

Good person.

Bad person.

Victim.

Self-made.

Broken.

Strong.

But what if the person we see in the mirror is not an accurate reflection of who we really are? What if our perception has been shaped more by our successes, failures, experiences, emotions, culture, and the opinions of others than by truth? And perhaps the more important question is this:

What happens when God's Word disagrees with the person we see in the mirror?

Last week, we introduced the philosophy behind Relentless Coaching & Consulting:

Teaching Truth. Igniting Purpose. Transforming Lives.

Those words represent a progression, and that progression must begin with truth. Because before I can understand my purpose or experience genuine transformation, I must be willing to see myself as God says I am. Sometimes that means the mirror has to shatter.

The Problem With Our Reflection

Human beings are remarkably good at creating our own versions of reality. Some of us look into the mirror and see far less than God sees. Our failures become our identity. Our past becomes our identity. Something someone said about us twenty years ago becomes our identity. We become convinced that because we failed, we are failures. But distortion works in the opposite direction too.

We can look into the same mirror and see far more than we should. Our accomplishments become evidence of our goodness. Our morality becomes a measuring stick by which we compare ourselves to others. Our success convinces us that we are self-sufficient. Our religious behavior convinces us that we are righteous.

One man looks into the mirror and sees someone beyond redemption. Another looks into the mirror and sees someone who doesn't believe he needs redemption. Both reflections can be lies.

That is why I cannot be the final authority on who I am. Neither can you. We need a mirror that doesn't distort the reflection.

The Word of God Is That Mirror

James wrote:

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” (James 1:22–25, KJV)

Scripture does what our emotions, experiences, and opinions cannot reliably do.

It tells us the truth. But when I look into the Word of God, I discover something even more important. The Bible does not exist simply to make me feel better about the person in the mirror.

It exists to correct my perception of him.

Sometimes Scripture destroys the lies that tell me I am worthless. Sometimes Scripture destroys the pride that tells me I am righteous. Sometimes it confronts my shame. Sometimes it confronts my sin. Sometimes it reminds me that I am loved. Sometimes it reminds me that I desperately need to change.

God's Word is not interested in protecting the image I have created of myself.

It is interested in revealing what is true.

Before I See Myself Clearly, I Must See God Clearly

There is another problem with beginning with ourselves. We aren't the standard.

God is.

When Isaiah saw the Lord, he did not walk away with an inflated view of himself.

He saw holiness.

“And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:3, KJV)

Hundreds of years later, John recorded the same declaration around the throne of God:

“And they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” (Revelation 4:8, KJV)

Scripture describes many attributes of God.

God is love.

God is just.

God is righteous.

God is merciful.

God is gracious.

But around His throne the declaration rings: Holy, holy, holy.

When I begin with God's holiness rather than my own perception, the reflection in the mirror starts looking different. His holiness exposes my sin. His righteousness exposes my self-righteousness. His truth exposes my excuses. And suddenly the question is no longer whether I consider myself a good person. The question becomes whether I measure up to a holy God.

I don't.

Neither do you.

And that is precisely why we need Christ.

The Cross Tells the Truth About Both

The cross may be the clearest mirror mankind has ever been given. It tells us something devastating about our condition while simultaneously revealing something extraordinary about God's love.

Our sin was serious enough that Christ had to die for it.

And yet:

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”(Romans 5:8, KJV)

Think about those two truths together.

We were sinners.

He loved us.

God did not have to pretend our condition was better than it was in order to love us. He saw us exactly as we were. And He sent His Son. That means biblical truth leaves no room for either self-righteousness or hopelessness. I cannot stand before the cross and boast about my goodness. But neither can I stand before the cross and claim that I am beyond the reach of God's love.

Calvary shatters both reflections.

Grace Never Requires God to Redefine Sin

We see this beautifully in the ministry of Jesus. Christ repeatedly encountered people whose lives had been devastated by sin. He saw them. He showed them compassion. He loved them. But He never needed to call darkness light in order to demonstrate love.

Consider the woman taken in adultery. After her accusers departed, Jesus said:

“Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” (John 8:11, KJV)

What an extraordinary picture of grace and truth. “Neither do I condemn thee.” Grace. “Go, and sin no more.” Truth.

Jesus did not define love as accepting whatever condition He found someone in and leaving that person there. His love offered something better. Forgiveness. Freedom. And a call to leave the old life behind. God's truth does the same thing when we encounter it today.

Let the Mirror Shatter

Paul wrote:

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2, KJV)

Before transformation appears in our lives, something must happen in our thinking. Our minds must be renewed. That means there will be times when God's Word contradicts something we have believed for years.

Something about God. Something about sin. Something about ourselves. Something about the person we thought we were. When that happens, we have a choice. We can defend the reflection. Or we can believe the Word.

Teaching Truth begins when we decide that God gets the final word.

Not our feelings.

Not our culture.

Not our accomplishments.

Not our failures.

Not our past.

Not the opinions of others.

And not even the person staring back at us from the mirror.

God's Word determines what is true. So perhaps the question this week is not simply:

What do I see when I look in the mirror?

Perhaps the better question is:

Am I willing to allow the Word of God to shatter everything I believe about myself that isn't true? Because sometimes the reflection must shatter before the truth can finally be seen.

Teaching Truth. Igniting Purpose. Transforming Lives.