A child was told by his mother, "Go look in the mirror and wash your face." He insisted, "I already have!" But she replied, "You're only kidding yourself!" His dirty face proved to her that if he really had looked in the mirror, he ignored what it revealed. He may have seen the truth about himself, but he didn't act on it.

The apostle James taught that anyone who hears God's Word but does not obey it is kidding himself. He is like someone who looks at himself in a mirror but goes his way unchanged (James 1:22-24). He hears and reads God's Word, but then dismisses it, not letting the Scriptures change him. The person who looks into the mirror of God's Word, however, longing to be transformed by it, "is not a forgetful hearer" (v.25). He wants the Word to reveal his true needs and show him truths to obey. As he obeys, he progressively becomes more like Jesus. James said that kind of person "will be blessed in what he does" (v.25).

If we honestly want to become more like Christ in our attitudes, actions, and reactions, we must look into God's mirror, the Bible, regularly. But let's not kid ourselves—just looking isn't enough. God's Word will transform us, but only if we obey it.  — Joanie Yoder