"Put into practice the word, and do not limit yourself to listening to it, by deceiving yourself by false reasonings, for if a man hears the word and does not put it into practice, it is like A man who looks at his natural face in a mirror, and who, as soon as he looks at himself, goes away, and forgets as soon as he is, but he who has plunged his gaze into the perfect law, that of the Freedom ... that one will be happy in his activity" James 1.22 / 25

The Word of God fulfills a double function: it shows us what we are and it reveals to us what we are called to be. When she shows us what we are, it is not to make us feel guilty but to encourage us to desire to be like Christ, the perfect model.

When the mirror returns me the image of a face stained with paint, I do everything to remove these tasks.

Similarly, when the mirror of my soul, which is the Word of God, shows me that some things do not fit in with what God expects of me, it is my responsibility to let the pure water of the Word clean my soul. You may be tempted to leave this mirror aside to forget what you are. But forgetting will not bring about any change. Negation of what you are will not help you change.

The Word of God fulfills a double function : it shows us what we are and it reveals to us what we are called to be.

A missionary offered a mirror to the queen of an Aboriginal tribe. She did not know what this object was. When she took him in her hand and looked at him, she asked the missionary who had given him this picture of his grandmother ? She did not suspect that what she saw was the reflection of her own face. All her courtiers told her that she was beautiful, young, splendid ! The mirror told her the truth, but she paid no attention to it.

You can have a good opinion of yourself, you can believe in the flatteries and praise of those around you, but only the Word will tell you the truth about yourself and will help you to look more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ.

A prayer for today

Thank you Lord for your Word. She is the mirror that shows me what I am, and encourages me with the help of your Spirit and the help of your grace to tend toward what you want me to be.

Paul Calzada

Source (The Thought of the Day)