Life-Giving Words of Hope & Encouragement

James 1:23-24 says, “Anyone who listens to the Word of God but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.” James is saying that God’s Word reflects who we really are. What God says about us is the image we must keep in front of us. We are not defined by people, our past, our upbringing, or what didn’t work out. We are defined by our Creator. When we look in the mirror of God’s Word, we’ll see that we are valuable, talented, confident, favored, blessed, and worthy. We must start seeing ourselves as whole, free, forgiven and clean, redeemed and restored. When we see ourselves as God sees us, it begins to heal a damaged self-image; it repairs the hurts and scars that have caused us to see ourselves as lacking, inferior, or unqualified.