Have you ever considered what life must have been like before mirrors? I don’t know about you, but I can’t get ready in the morning without a mirror! How would you fix your hair or makeup? Can you imagine what life would be like, not knowing what you look like? Modern inventions that we all take for granted, like glass mirrors and photography—what would our lives be like without them? Today we even have filters and software that will take away every blemish and flaw, giving us the image of perfection. But is that perfection true?

As Christians we are to mirror Christ. Our lives are to be a true reflection of God’s heart, shining into the dark world that surrounds us. Does your life, does my life, reflect God in truth, or is our “godly” reflection more like a funhouse mirror, distorted and twisted? A.W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” How do people around us see God when they view us? I think we should be deeply troubled by this question! Where is the love of God within the church? I am not talking about fake love, which ignores sin. I am talking about how we share the truth of God’s love. As we are trudging through our daily grind, are we glorifying God? Is he pleased with our behavior, or do we just put on our Christian persona, on Sunday morning for an hour or two?

I have been deeply moved by the story of the Huaorani people and the missionaries killed in Ecuador. In January 1956, 5 missionary men, made contact with a remote tribe in the Ecuador jungle. Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Roger Youderian, and Ed McCully were all murdered shortly after their contact with the Huaorani tribe. Unimageable, to my own heart, Steve Saint’s sister, Rachel, and Jim Elliot’s wife, Elisabeth, stayed in Ecuador and continued to minister in the area. In 1959, Rachel and Elisabeth moved into the Huaorani settlement. Their story is a remarkable one! Through the grace of God, the Huaorani tribe became believers in Christ. Steve Saint, the son of Nate, was actually baptized by tribe member, Mincaye, the very man who had killed his father years earlier! Their hearts truly reflected the love of Christ, and their sacrifice made an enormous impact on the world.

Love is the overflow of joy in God! It is not duty for duty’s sake, or right for right’s sake. It is not a resolute abandoning of one’s own good with a view solely to the good of the other person. It is first a deeply satisfying experience of the fullness of God’s grace, and then a doubly satisfying experience of sharing that grace with another person.

John Piper

Our hearts ought to love God so much, that we are unable to keep from sharing His praise. Our devotion to God ought to cause us to hunger and thirst for more of Him, and that hunger should drive us to His word. His word should move us to examine our own lives, changing us daily, replacing our own desires with His.  I challenge you today, as I examine myself, examine your heart. Are you giving your faith only lip service? How do you treat the barista at the coffee shop? How do you treat the waitress at lunch after Sunday service? How do you treat your coworker? Our pastor spoke of how we “put on Christ” when we accept Him in faith. I pray that we don’t take Him off Monday through Saturday!

Christ did not die to forgive sinners who go on treasuring anything above seeing and savoring God. And people who would be happy in heaven if Christ were not there, will not be there. The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God. It’s a way of overcoming every obstacle to everlasting joy in God. If we don’t want God above all things, we have not been converted by the gospel.

John Piper