Four Questions in the Mirror

What do you see in the mirror?

My wife has a mirror, one of those big round ones for putting on makeup. It also magnifies. It gives her precise control over makeup and other grooming tasks.

One thing is true. It only shows what is there.

Do you need to look in a mirror?

There are times I do. A good look in the mirror gives me reality when feeling either smug or depressed.

The passing of former President Jimmy Carter brought a wave of reflection upon the nation. Politics aside. Carter’s post-presidency showed a heart absent in most politicians. He captivated the hearts of many.

His life served others. His work eliminated the Guinea worm. His passion for Habitat for Humanity built homes for the impoverished. His desire for peace led him to foreign lands.

Where does that energy come from? Perhaps, it was from his internal mirror.

Carter’s preacher said that visiting the former president always elicited four questions.

• “Where have you been?”
• “What have you done?”
• “Who have you helped?”
• “How can I help you help them?”

He said sometimes he struggled to answer all four. But they reveal many things. What is your intent and did you follow through with it? Did your life do anything today or was it busy with trivialities? Was someone’s life changed because of you? Can you put others on your shoulders to accomplish what you cannot?

I think about those questions because they don’t have easy answers. Did I change anyone’s life? Was my life purposeful? Am I serving?

James knew that people seemed to ignore reality. We shape it to where we are, okay? Few want to know their faults and failings, so he says, “You need to look in the mirror.”

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at onceforgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:22–25, ESV)

We don’t always see ourselves as we should. And even when others point it out, we discount their viewpoint.

Instead, ask hard questions, like Carter’s. Filter your life through the prism of purpose and people, and you will stay on track.

Life is too short to waste. Look into a mirror and ask, “What do I see?” Then, go do something about it.