Close your eyes for a minute, and picture your own face. Imagine the slope of your cheek and the color of your eyes. Note any freckles, dimples, or blemishes. Big nose or button nose? Thinning hair or a full mane? Crooked teeth or pearly whites?

Undoubtedly, you know exactly what you look like. Why? It is because we all spend time in front of a mirror, studying our faces and getting to know ourselves. We are not born knowing what we look like, and if we didn’t catch our own reflection from time to time, we’d honestly have no idea!

Now think of this in terms of faith. We arenot born with knowledge of the saving truth of Jesus Christ. Since we don’t inherently know the Word of God, we must read, study, and carefully analyze Scripture so the Holy Spirit can impress His message of salvation and direction on our hearts and minds.

But how many people read the Bible and then walk away, seemingly unaffected? It is as though they forget the power of the Word as soon as they close the book. These are the people who praise Jesus on Sunday, but live Monday-through-Saturday lives of pretense. These are the ones who, as the apostle James describes, forget what they look like.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!” (James 1:22 NIV, emphasis added). The world is dying to know what genuine faith looks like. If you profess to know Jesus as Lord, then you carry a solemn responsibility to show others the true face of faith. Let them see Christ . . . reflected in you.