What do you see when you look at yourself in the mirror?

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Usually, this question is meant for a self analysis. Every time someone asks you that, they mean to know your true self. Not the image that other people see, but the image that you see. Your true reflection.

We usually use several “masks”. Most of us don’t mean that for bad. Sometimes we use the masks to protect other people from seeing our true nature. Sometimes, we do that to get other people’s approval.

What may be terrifying is that God always sees us without our masks. He knows our heart, He knows our true self, our true image. And you know what is more terrifying than that? He still loves us!

No matter how scary is the image on the mirror, He still loves us to death. He proved that.

When I think about rejoicing, the first thing that comes to my mind is a happy moment. That is natural because “rejoice” means “to feel joy or great delight“. The Bible describes dozens of moments when the Lord tells His people to rejoice when they receive a blessing or deliverance.

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But to contradict our “common sense”, there are some episodes in the Bible when people rejoiced although they were going through tough times.

Let’s take a look at Hannah’s story (1 Samuel chapters 1 and 2). She was barren and it was a burden for her. She wanted really bad to have her own children. She wanted it so bad that she went to the temple, talked to the Lord and promised Him that if she had a son she would give him back to God.

At the beginning of chapter 2 we find Hannah praising the Lord:

“My heart rejoices in the LORD […] There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”

One would obviously think that she had just found out that she was pregnant or maybe the boy has just been born. But if you look at the last verses of chapter 1, you will see that actually Hannah has just given up the boy to fulfill her promise to God. She gave her son to be raised by the priest Eli and yet was able to rejoice and praise the Lord. Why? How?

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For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself”. – Galatians 5:14

A while ago, after a self-assessment of my christian life, I realized that I had one major problem: I wasn’t able to love people as God wanted me to. It is not that I hated people, but I was indifferent. If you think about it, indifference is the real opposite of love, not hatred.

If someone I cared about was in trouble or needed my help, I would jump in to help immediately. But if it wasn’t, I would think “poor him” or “poor her” and a few minutes later I would have dismissed any worries from my mind without even noticing.

But what about this commandment that Jesus gave us:

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. – Matthew 5:43-45

I felt that I was not even close to loving the way Jesus meant, so I started praying that He would help me love people.

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Since creation, human beings need company.

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” – Genesis 2:18

Adam had God with him in the garden and he had a lot of animals around. No one could say that he was alone. But still, he felt lonely. So God created Eve to be his companion. Adam was not alone anymore.

Since then, men and women have needed someone to support them, someone by their side. That’s how God created us. He built into us the necessity of having people around, of being a part of a community.

And as it is with all our needs, God also provides companions to support us in our journey of life. I’m not talking specifically about a romantic relationship (although your spouse can be and should be your companion too). I’m talking about people that will support you, help you keep on the right track, give you encouragement and lift you up when you fall.