The Mirror Tells All – July 12, 2023

Read: Romans 7:14-25

I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:19,24,25

The Mirror Tells All

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Hey, you have a little something on your face!”

Has a friend ever told you that? The next thing you do is try to rub it off or find the nearest mirror. Maybe you saw some chocolate on your mouth or paint from your project. Either way, you were glad they told you so you could wipe it off and go back to looking your normal great self!

That’s why mirrors are so helpful. They show you something that you might never have seen! That probably saved you a lot of embarrassment.

But just imagine if you could not get that mark off your face no matter what you did or how hard you scrubbed! You would be pretty discouraged or upset right?

In our reading today Paul talks about a similar situation. He talks about his sin and our sin. When we look at something like a mirror, God’s laws and the Ten Commandments, we see that we do not keep God’s will. We have dark spots of sin all over us. No matter what we do, we cannot escape sin, it has been part of us since birth. No matter how good we are or how hard we try, we keep doing the sins that we do not want to do in our thoughts, words, and actions.

The apostle Paul felt the same pain and frustration we do. “I keep on doing the bad things I do not want to do,” he lamented. Then he asks a really good question: “Who will rescue me from this body of sin which leads to eternal death in hell?” It’s as if frustrated Paul was looking at himself in the mirror wondering, “Who will wipe all this smeared black stuff off my face since I can’t get it off?”

The answer Paul was looking for is the answer we need. It’s Jesus. He came to our rescue. Thank God he wiped all of our sins away with his perfect life, his innocent death on the cross, and his glorious resurrection! Jesus, God’s Son, took our place and suffered hell, which we deserved because of our sin. Jesus wiped off the black marks for good so God the Father only sees us as perfectly clean, sinless children ready to have his ultimate gift of heaven forever.

The next time you look in the mirror, remember Jesus and how much he loves you!

Closing Prayer:

God, we are clean and sinless in your sight. We are so grateful to Jesus who took on our punishment we deserved and washed our sins away at the cross! Amen.

The questions below are to help families discuss this devotion. The questions are divided by age group as suggestions, but anyone could reflect on any of the questions as they desire.

Questions for Younger Children

• What was the funniest thing you ever saw in the mirror because someone told you to wipe your face?
• We can wipe chocolate off our face, but what can’t we get rid of the dark spot of ________ that is all over us.

Questions for Elementary Age Children

• Identify one thing you keep doing even though you know it is wrong.
• What did Jesus do to made us clean in God’s eyes?

Questions for Middle School and Above

• How do we know that Jesus has more power than sin and Satan?
• Agree or disagree: Since I can’t help myself from falling into sin, I shouldn’t even bother to try.