Faith In The Ordinary

Who Are You After All?

The mirror reflects a face – but it also reflects a belief. Some mornings, I don’t even realize I’m preaching to myself until I’m standing in front of a mirror. It’s never just a mirror, is it? Yes, it reflects my face. But it also reflects my thoughts—old memories, old failures, old labels. It reflects what I wish I could fix, what I wish people didn’t notice, what I wish I could forget. It reflects the version of me that still feels the sting of past mistakes. The insecurities that whisper, You’re not enough. The shame that says, you’ll always be that person. And that’s what makes the mirror so powerful: it’s not only showing me what I look like. It’s asking me who I believe I am.

Scripture says there’s a kind of mirror-looking that leaves us unchanged—seeing, reacting, then moving on as if we never saw anything at all (James 1:23–25). But there’s also a kind of looking that becomes transformation—not because the mirror improves, but because what we’re looking at changes us. So, here is the real question behind the glass: When you look in the mirror, who do you see?

The Mirror as a Judge

For many of us, the mirror has become a courtroom. We step up, and before we’ve even brushed our teeth, we deliver a verdict: Too much. Not enough. Wrong. Broken. Behind. Unlovable.

The mirror becomes the place where we re-hear the harshest voices—some external, some internal. The voice of comparison. The voice of self-disgust. The voice of perfectionism. The voice of fear.

But here’s what we forget: the mirror can only report what it can see. And what it can see is surface:

• It can point out a blemish, but it cannot announce forgiveness.
• It can highlight a scar, but it cannot interpret your redemption.
• It can show you age, but it can’t measure glory.

And yet we keep asking it to do what it was never designed to do: define us.

Two People at the Mirror

There are two kinds of people who stand before the mirror each day. Not two kinds of faces. Two kinds of belonging. One belongs to the Kingdom of God – yet still doesn’t see Jesus in the mirror. The other does not yet belong to the Kingdom – and is looking for an identity that can finally hold them. Both are staring into the same glass. But they are listening to different voices.

Let’s talk to both.

1) The Kingdom Person Who Still Sees the Old Self

This one is surprisingly common.

You love God. You believe in Jesus. You pray. You serve. You are part of the Kingdom – yet when you look into the mirror, you don’t see Jesus. You see you: your flaws, your impatience, your regret, your struggle, your past, your insecurity. You see the old story with Christian vocabulary layered on top.

You don’t doubt that Jesus saves. But you live as though you’re still the one who must prove. So, the mirror becomes the place where you silently rehearse accusations – sometimes with spiritual language:

• “I should be further along by now.”
• “Why do I still struggle with this?”
• “If I were really strong in faith, I wouldn’t feel like this.”
• “God is probably tired of me.”

But the Gospel does not speak like that. Scripture says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Not “less condemnation.” Not “condemnation on good days.” No condemnation.

Condemnation says, you are the problem and you are the punishment. Conviction says, this isn’t who you are—come back to Jesus. One voice pushes you away. The other calls you home.

If you are in Christ, you may still notice what’s imperfect in you – but you are no longer permitted to use imperfection as your identity. Because your identity is not something you achieve. It’s something you receive. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Notice: it doesn’t say the old never tries to speak again. It says the old has passed away as a defining reality. So why do Kingdom people still struggle to see Jesus in the mirror?

Because we confuse belonging with beholding

We can belong to Jesus and keep looking at ourselves for the final word. And here’s the subtle trap: even shame can become self-centred. Shame says, “Look at me – how bad I am.” Pride says, “Look at me – how good I am.” Both keep the eyes on me.

But the Christian life is not healed by staring harder at ourselves. It is healed by turning our gaze. “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:2). When I fix my eyes on Jesus, I am not denying my struggle. I am relocating my identity.

The better mirror isn’t denial—it’s the cross

The cross tells the truth about me and tells the truth about God. It tells the truth: sin is real, and it destroys. And it tells the truth: Jesus is more real, and He saves. This is why the Gospel is not self-improvement; it is exchange. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). If you are in Christ, the mirror cannot be your judge anymore – because your case has already been decided. Not guilty. Not because you never sinned, but because Jesus stood in your place. So, if you are part of the Kingdom but you’re not seeing Jesus in the mirror, the invitation isn’t to fake confidence. It’s to practice seeing with faith.

A Kingdom Mirror Practice

The next time you look, don’t negotiate with your shame. Preach to it.

When the mirror says: “You’re not enough,” answer: “In Christ I am accepted and loved.” (Ephesians 1:4–6)

When the mirror says: “You’ll always be this way,” answer: “I am a new creation in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

When the mirror says: “God is tired of you,” answer: “Jesus is my righteousness, not my performance.” (Romans 5:1; 2 Corinthians 5:21)

When the mirror shows you flaws, let it lead you to prayer—not punishment: “Search me, O God… and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23–24)

This is not positive thinking. This is Kingdom seeing. You are learning to agree with Heaven over what the glass suggests.

2) The Person Outside the Kingdom Who Still Wants a New Reflection

If you are not yet in the Kingdom of God, the mirror can feel even harsher—because the world offers identity, but it cannot secure it. It tells you to find yourself, build yourself, express yourself, brand yourself, heal yourself, and prove yourself. But the problem is that self-built identity is always fragile. It needs constant maintenance. Constant validation. Constant comparison.

If you’re outside the Kingdom, you might look in the mirror and feel one of two things:

• pride that fades quickly, because it needs to be fed, or
• shame that deepens, because it feels permanent.

And both can lead to the same exhaustion: I don’t know who I am, and I can’t seem to become who I want to be. Here is the hope of the Gospel: you do not have to stay trapped in that reflection. Jesus does not only offer forgiveness. He offers a new life. He doesn’t just clean up your past—He gives you a new birth.
He doesn’t just improve your behaviour – He changes your belonging.

Jesus’ invitation is not “Try harder.” It is “Come.” “Repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Repent means: turn away from being your own lord – turn toward Jesus.
Believe means: trust that what He did is enough, and that who He is can hold you.

How does someone outside the Kingdom change who they see in the mirror?

You come into the Kingdom by coming to the King

You don’t enter by pretending you’re fine. You enter by surrender. Scripture says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). And it says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). This is not a moral makeover. It’s rescue.

• You stop trying to justify yourself.
• You stop trying to carry yourself.
• You come to Jesus and say, “I need You.”

And the miracle happens: the mirror no longer has the final word.

Because now you belong to Christ.

The Ending That Changes Everything

Here’s what I’m learning: the mirror is not the enemy. It’s just a messenger. It can show me where I’m tempted to live from my old identity. It can reveal where I’m still believing lies. It can expose the places where shame still tries to lead. But it cannot name me. Only Jesus can.

So, whether you are in the Kingdom but still staring at yourself, or you are outside the Kingdom and tired of chasing an identity that keeps slipping away—the invitation is the same:

Look to Jesus. Abide in Him. Because when you abide in Him, He abides in you. Jesus Himself said, “Abide in me, and I in you” (John 15:4). And again: “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit” (John 15:5). So, when you look in the mirror, the goal isn’t to finally like what you see. The goal is deeper:

When you look in the mirror, don’t look for proof of perfection—look for the Person you belong to. If you’re in Christ, His name is over you, His righteousness covers you, and His Spirit is within you. You may still notice what needs healing, but you don’t live from accusation anymore—you live from union.

So let the mirror become a place of remembrance, not judgment. Not “Who am I today?” but “Whose am I?” Abide in Him. Stay close. Stay yielded. Keep returning.
Because as you abide in Him, you begin to resemble the One who abides in you (John 15:4–5; 2 Corinthians 5:21).