True Identity

How many mirrors do you have in your house?  How often do you look in them?  How often do you walk away and forget what you look like?  I find it interesting that James uses that illustration in talking about listening to the Word of God but not doing what it says (James 1:23-24).  My first thought is of looking in the mirror, noticing I only have make up on one eye, and then walking away without doing anything about it.  But I'm not sure that's really the point James was trying to make.

I'm currently doing Beth Moore's new study on James, and she wrote one sentence that seemed to unlock the meaning of this passage for me: "What James will teach us is the difference between talking about living in victory over things like self-centeredness, addiction, seduction, and temptation and actually doing it."  So what makes the difference? Identity!  Where are you finding your identity?  In the mirror?  Or in the Word of God?

In her study, Moore focuses in on verse 23, where James talks about "glancing at your face in a mirror" (NLT).  The King James Version translates it "natural face", and the Greek word used there is genesis.  Hearing that takes me back to the book of Genesis where we're told all about our identity: We are created in God's image. And perhaps as we look in the mirror, we see more than just the elements that make up our faces.  Perhaps we glimpse what we were created to be... but, as James says, we all too often walk away and promptly forget who we really are.  We let the world around us, our successes and failures, our past, or even the mirror define our identity.  And this is how we become trapped in self-centeredness, addiction, seduction, temptation, etc.

So how do we get free?  "If you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it." (James 1:25 NLT)  In other words, spend time in Scripture, letting the truth of it define your identity.  Let God's Word be the mirror you stare into to figure out who you are.  Let the law (which Jesus sums up in the commands to love God and to love others) become the guide for your actions, helping you to live out your true identity.  That's why James emphasizes the importance of not only hearing the Word, but also doing what it says.  We can find freedom in every area of life when we allow God to change us through the power and truth of His Word.

Note: For more on letting God define your identity, check out the messages in the Hijacked series from Daybreak Church.