Window vs Mirror

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  As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.  Pr 27:19                                      (physical truth)                                 (spiritual truth)

            Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says                                                        is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror                                                                                   and after looking at himself,                                                                       goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom,                                                             and continues to do this,
                   not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it–                                                              he will be blessed in what he does.  Jas 1:23-25

verse Jas 1 23 25

When you look through a window, you sometimes can see a hazy reflected image of yourself, but, by changing your angle of sight, the image will disappear.  However, when you look at a mirror, the exact image is reflected back at you.  Applying this physical truth to the spiritual realm, points to the fact that sometimes we do not like what we see in ourselves, so we direct our attention elsewhere, to avoid having to deal with a change in our character.  We enjoy the window experience because we can focus on what is happening outside of our lives, rather than examining the image that is being reflected back at us.  There can be times, when the inward image is too painful to deal with, or because of pride, we are still in denial that we need to make a change, so our gaze shifts outwardly where we can correct the faults of others.

The Bible contains God’s principles for us to live a fulfilled, holy life without having to play the “window game”.   However, two requirements are necessary for this to become a reality.  Firstly, you must place your faith in Christ’s finished work Ro 8:9, for it is impossible for those without the Spirit of God to understand spiritual truths 1 Co 2:14, and secondly, you must do more than read the words on the paper.  James tells us, you must continually put into practice what you have learned by reading the Bible.  If you do this, God has promised success, in all that you do.