Looking into the Mirror

by Sarah
from Virtuous Daughters, July 2013~Volume 13, Number 4

At the end of the day, I was contemplating what I had done that day. God prompted a thought on my heart. How many times do I look into the mirror each day? I realized I look at myself quite a lot, and many times there are subconscious thoughts, such as, “Don’t I look adorable?” Other times, the mirror brings discouraging thoughts to mind, “Oh! That piece of hair just won’t stay put. I wish my hair looked like others girls’.”

I am not saying that it is wrong to look at the mirror, but we should do it for the right reasons, such as “Do I look presentable (not ultra-cute)? Is my outfit pleasing to Jesus? Are there pieces of spinach between my teeth?” God looks at the outward appearance, not at the heart. (Gotcha! You were right! I wrote that wrong just to see if you were paying attention.) God is not so much concerned with the outward bodily appearance as He is with our hearts. God thinks quite differently than the world, shown in Isaiah 55:8 and 1 Peter 3:3–5. 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
 
We should have a heart-mirror check several times a day in addition to our personal appearance checks. This can be done through prayer and reading God’s Word. Ask Jesus now if your heart is clean and sparkling. Paul urges us in Romans 12:2, “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.”