God's Mirror

“The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

1 Samuel 16:7b

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

Genesis 1:25a

         Summer is here and before you know it we are going to start seeing county fairs.  Everyone knows the best part of any fair is the food.  Who can say no to a well-made corn dog, even if it’s not gluten free.  Talking about fair food will only make me hungry so I want to turn my attention to another part of summer celebrations, the funhouse.  

         You walk into the funhouse and the first thing you run into is the carnival mirror.  Before you know it, you are seeing yourself with a really long neck and an enormous head.  That is a distortion of who you are.  How often in our marriages do we wind up looking at ourselves, or even worse, our wives, through glasses made of carnival mirrors?  She expresses concerns and we see her as nagging us all the time. She mentions we spend too much of our time watching sports, and in the funhouse of our mind, “she never lets me do what I want.”  Could it actually be a case where she just wants the two of you to spend more time together?  Is your initial response really what she wants or thinks?  One of the core principles we teach is to ask yourself, “what is the intent of your spouse’s heart?”  1 Samuel tells us that God looks past the outward appearance and He looks at the heart. Mirrors, carnival or otherwise, are limited to outward appearances.  We are so often mislead by what we see because we are unable to discover what is beneath the surface.

         Who do you think God sees when He looks in the mirror?  This is not a trick question.  He sees God. What if in our marriages, we used God’s mirror?  If, when we looked at ourselves, we saw God.  When we looked at our wives, we saw God.  Genesis 1:26 tells us we are made in the image and likeness of God.  That should make it easy enough for us to see the God in the woman we married.  Don’t let the way the glass (you) is shaped affect how you see your wife.  God created each of you.  He sees everything perfectly.  He sees Himself in both of you.  A marriage that honors God uses God’s mirror, not man’s.  See your hearts like God does, it will help you love the way God does.  If that happens, your life and your marriage will thrive.