Looking in the Mirror

I've been looking in the mirror - Do you often  think about your “everyday shortcomings,” and see them as just that, “only shortcomings” – "not such a big deal?"  I know that sometimes I think that, but then - sometimes . . . 

I remember that they just might be a big deal - yes.  If I wish to be counted as a disciple of The Master; if I want to be His disciple - one who walks in the dust of the Master, I need to look at whose dust is covering my feet.  Walking in the dust - walking so close to someone that his dust covers my feet.

It’s so easy to accept and minimize my “shortcomings” if I walk through the day without a thought about how I'm living, or without wondering if my actions are a big deal to God.  So, before I greet one more day, I feel that I must personally look at the everyday things I call shortcomings and determine whether they are worth worrying about.  

In that vein, I want to look at the one I call Master – The only true God, Creator, Savior, King of the Universe.  And then I need to decide what I believe would be HIS view of the actions and thoughts that I see as only my “shortcomings.”

You may have your own list, but here are a few that I sometimes find myself struggling with.  Pride, envy, and anger – guess that’s a good start!

So if I take each one and dissect it in the light of God’s word, His purity, and His holiness, it may help me to see whether it is  serious enough to be too concerned about.

Pride – oh wow!  The Bible talks about that a bunch.

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.  Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from The Father but from the world.

It sounds a bit like Pride is not something that I should tolerate in my life.

Then there is Envy

Envy comes in the back door, and some of the time I don’t see it until God points it out to me.  That envy isn’t usually a desire for wealth or talent, or even the beauty that another has. Most of the time it just says, “I wish I was as important to (this group, this person, this situation) as another person.  It’s still definitely envy and it’s grounded in comparison.  I have come to the realization that, when this “shortcoming” haunts me, it’s because I don’t see myself in the light of my importance to God – which is the only importance that really matters.

1 Corinthians 12:4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant.

Galatians 5:21 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

As I look at these scriptures, it seems to attach envy to coveting  the importance of others in the world’s eyes.  That was a bit eye-opening to me.

And Finally Anger

Jesus makes it very plain that my use of the word "shortcoming" would not be the way He describes anger - it's a slippery slope from anger to sin. Words and actions around us make it so easy to be angry. We have opinions about everything, in the Church, and in the rest of our lives.  Anger seems to be always in the air, in the wind and in the dust.  I must remember that this is not the way of The Master.

Colossians 3:8 but now is the time to cast off and throw away all these rotten garments of anger, hatred, cursing, and dirty language.

Matt 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’  But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. . .

So to net it out

Galatians 5:19-20 The acts of the flesh are obvious: debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, , ,

God is Holy, Good, and Pure. I want to walk in His dust, and He is more than willing to walk with me and give me strength to follow.

Chronicles 16:9 The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

• In pride I put myself in center stage – But the King humbled Himself by entering into our world.
• When I envy another’s situation, wealth, or status – I forget the family status given to me by the grantor of every good thing.  
• When my anger causes me to sin, I forget that when Jesus spoke of anger in His sermons, He even covered it in His discussion about murder.

As always, my friends, I'm looking in the mirror - not at you, but at myself.  We all must determine how well we will follow God's plan in our own lives.