Hearing Is Not Enough

There is a woman who is beautiful.  She is beautiful based on her character.  She is beautiful based on her heart.  She is beautiful based on her conversation.  She is beautiful based on the love she has and is willing to give.  But she has a problem.  Every morning and every night she sees herself in the mirror.  The mirror reflects a woman who has a few blemishes on her face.  When she looks at her chin, she sees an addition of flesh that makes it appear that she has another chin.  When she is naked, she sees dimples that should only be on her face.  She sees lumps positioned to where she is not sure where her waist ends and her stomach begins.  When she looks at her legs, she sees them pressing together.  She now understands why the inner part of her jeans seems to always wear down.  As she is evaluating her appearance, her mind wonders off on images of actresses she sees on television.  How slim and trim they are.  How flat their stomachs are.  How the clothes they wear looks so good on them.  Then when her mind has given enough room for dreaming, she is brought back to that mirror.  She realizes that her outer does not match her inner.  She then removes herself from the mirror, to soon forget the undesirable image of herself.  She attempts to band aid the wound.  For the blemishes, she applies makeup.  For her stomach and thighs she wears girdles in conjunction with tight fitting clothes.  She is no longer reminded of her physical flaws, until she is back in front of that mirror.

This scenario can fit both men and women.  It may not only be about weight.  It can be about anything, but the mirror reflects what is true.  The mirror reflects reality and not illusion.  Michael Jackson wrote a song titled “Man in the Mirror.”  Part of the songs states,

“I'm gonna make a change,
For once in my life
It's gonna feel real good,
Gonna make a difference
Gonna make it right”

Further down in the song it states,

“That's why I want you to know
I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have
Been any clearer
If you wanna make the world
a better place
take a look at yourself, and
then make a change”

The bible states “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;” (Ja 1:23) Amen!  The word of God is always instructional.  We are to read and hear these instructions, and apply it appropriately to our lives.  The word of God shows us where we are lacking.  It shows us where we have fallen short.  It shows us our many flaws.  In essence, the word of God is like a mirror.  However, the word of God also acts as a remedy to all the things we see, and if we are only just reading and hearing, but not doing, we will continue to see the same reflections.  The woman above can visit a dermatologist to help with her blemishes.  Instead of fantasizing about being smaller she can do something about it to be smaller.  Instead of wearing girdles, she can monitor her intake of food consumption or stay faithful to an exercise regiment to where a new image can be reflected back to her.  When we look in the mirror and say we are going to make a change because we do not like what we see, we are to follow up with action.  Because once we are removed from the mirror, it is out of sight, out of mind.  We will not be reminded of it again unless we are back in front of the mirror again. 

Hearing the word of God is not enough.  We also have to practice it.  Change will only be successful when we add action.  Amen!