School of Prayer: Spiritual Integrity, Pt2

Scripture speaks of the word of God as being like a mirror in which we behold ourselves (James 1:22-25). God’s righteousness and the nature of his person, which is holy, cannot be absent-mindedly passed over by his people. We must look intently at the word and ways of God and abide in it. When we look intently at the word and abide in it (also see Ps 1) we are focused on our being a reflection of the image and glory of God, both internally and externally. God is interested in our purification and transformation and is constantly renewing us to reflect Him (2 Cor 3:18).

Who do you see in your mirror? The word is not simply a spiritual document with philosophical approaches to an abstract God. We were created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:27). We did not evolve. If we did, we have nothing to aspire to. We were patterned to relate to God intimately and redemptively in passion, worship, and praise.

Is 43:1, “But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and that formed thee, O Israel, fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name: thou art mine.”

When we look into our mirror often it is clouded by sin, character problems, and hang-ups that cloud our reflection of the glory of God from an image, to a blur, to something that is barely recognizable.

Prov 27:19, “As in water face reflects face, So the heart of man reflects man.”

We are commanded to follow after the ways of God (Deut 28:9, Josh 22:5). This means not only obedience to the word personally in what we do, but also doing it in such a way as to make God attractive to others. Isaiah called this life a highway of holiness (Is 35:8). Holiness defines how we carry out our values and uncompromisables in loving God. Holiness also defines how we love others.

Consider the following:

Ex 20: An interpretation of the Ten Commandments as a love-based law. (John Parsons, Hebrew4Christians.com, Issues of the Heart) 1.I am your only deliverer, the One who loves and chooses you. 2. Love me exclusively. 3. Regard my love as sacred. 4. Rest in me. 5. Honor your life and its history. Do no harm to others. 6. Forsake anger. 7. Abandon lust. 8. Respect others, 9. Abhor lying. 10. Refuse greed and envy. Know that you belong to me and that you are accepted. Love others as you are also loved. (Hebrew4christians, Ten Matters of Heart, John Parsons, 2/4/21). We were created in God’s image and should always aspire to that image. It is a lifelong process of sanctification. (see Rom 12:10-20)

Who do you see in your mirror? Is your mirror marred by an image that you set up (to prop up your security and safety concept) and now need to maintain? A mask of perfection; the calm-cool-collected mask; the comedian, the performer; the martyr; the tough guy/gal; the control freak; the self-hater; the people pleaser; the philosopher; or the socialite. What do you want others to accept you as? What adorns the frame of our mirror? Is it negativity, a critical nature, lustful, a hater, guilt/shame ridden, violated person or a victim; a person who lacks discipline, is constantly angry in emotion and thoughts; distrustful, depressed, or inferior; unforgiving or unrepentant?

We cannot be what God called us to be wearing a mask and lending our energies to support an image that is only a farce. The mask helps us hide, but why should we? We have the image and likeness of God in us. Why should we seek to hide? We use a mask to hide parts of ourselves we do not want others to see and only allow them to see our strengths. We want to be confident and feel like we can handle life, but our masks do not help us handle life it helps us hide part of ourselves from it. What happens if we take off the mask? Would you still be pleased with what you see? After the mask is removed and we don’t have to try to be someone we are not. We can focus on being what God called us to be and manifesting his love to the world. Spiritual integrity implies that we live without a mask because the same mask that helps us hide also hides what God is doing in us.

Spiritual integrity helps us in that we are not constantly compromised in our character in terms of bad behavior or weak convictions. It helps us when we confront a wounded heart and address issues of unforgiveness, grudge holding, or our lack of repentance. It will question our constant judgments, motives, assumptions, excuses, labels, rehearsing, and inadequacies. Spiritual integrity seeks to maintain the thought life, emotional life, and behavioral life as taking place in a consecrated space where care is taken to not abide with anything that is displeasing to God. Most importantly it helps us to finally love ourselves with the love of God so that we can be spiritually free.

Rav Calev Apostolic Messianic International-Gulf Coast