I love golf.

I love the precision it takes to play it. I love the rules and the fact that it’s probably the only game where honor is valued more than winning. Players are expected to call a penalty on themselves, even if no one else sees the infraction. And I really love the statistics that go along with playing the game.

Statistics such as: fairways hit with your tee shot, greens hit in regulation (two strokes under the par for that particular hole), and the number of putts it takes you to finish the hole once your ball is on the green.

These statistics are usually available on any app that a golfer uses to keep track of his or her handicap (“handicap” is another statistic that helps equalize the game when played against another player of a different skill level).

I like to keep track of these statistics in my game. I can tell you the percentage of times my tee shot finds the fairway. I can also tell you the percentage my tee shot finds the right rough and the left rough. And I can give you the stats for greens in regulation and number of putts per hole.

You may be asking – why? Well, it’s so I can know what needs improving and can work on that aspect of my game. The club where I play has an excellent driving range, a nice putting green and a superb short game area for just this reason – so members can work on honing their golf skills.

But now comes the confession. Most of the time, all I do is keep the statistics. I do not take the time to improve them; other priorities seem to take precedence over this. I just look at the results and find satisfaction in knowing that, unlike a lot of players, I know the weaknesses of my game. I have done the analysis and have the answers.

So, what’s my point? Why am I boring you with this golf talk? My point is the same one that the Bible makes.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” James 1:22-25

We all have mirrors in our lives.

In golf, the stats are like a mirror that shows me the area I need to improve. The same could be said for the scales in my bathroom, or the numbers that show up in my bloodwork every year - I get a good picture (a reflection) of my health. But it is up to me to act on those facts. Otherwise, nothing will change. In fact, my health may get worse.

The same applies to me when I spend time in scripture. If I am taking this time seriously, I will come across areas in my life that God, through his Spirit, will show me I need to fix. Do I just gather facts (stats) about my spiritual health and make a note of them?

When I read that I should love my wife in a sacrificial way, do I say to myself, “Yes, I’m having trouble with that”, and then proceed to do nothing about it? When I realize I am compromising my values in my entertainment choices, do I walk away from my quiet time and do nothing about it? Or, worse, do I continually confess this sin in prayer and then do the same thing the next day?

I realize some of you will think this is bordering on legalism, on doing, instead of being. “What about grace?”, you may say? But look again at the scripture above. James explicitly says that we are to be “doers” of the Word. As Dallas Willard so famously said, “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.” James is not asking you to do more in order to earn your salvation or God’s acceptance – he is simply admonishing us to act on what God is prompting us to change.

One last thing about effort and your role in the “doing”. It is critical that you rely on the Spirit to help you change – to help you react to the reflection you see in the Mirror. Acting on what you read in your own strength will ultimately lead to either failure or self-righteousness – which IS legalism.

The way I see it, there are three kinds of people reading this post:

1. Those who avoid the mirror.

Some people rarely look in God’s mirror. Just like the golfer that doesn’t keep track of his or her stats, or a person who never has bloodwork done, they only have a vague idea of how they are doing in their spiritual walk. If they are surrounded by friends that tell them only about God’s love and never about the daily walk that this love demands (as Paul says, “the love of Christ constrains me”), then they will never mature as believers.

2. Those who look into the mirror and forget what they saw.

These are the people who approach the Bible the same way I tend to approach my golf game. They spend time in the Word, they take note of their sins and deficiencies, but leave their quiet time forgetting what they read. They do not submit their will to the Holy Spirit and let him guide them into the changes necessary to grow in grace and sanctification.

3. Those who look into the mirror and allow the mirror to change them.

These are the ones I aspire to be like. They understand that the Word is “living and active… discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). They desire to be more and more like their Savior, growing in love and truth.

Don’t forget what you saw.

Recently I headed out to the golf course. When I got there, I saw that the first tee was open and an empty golf course was calling my name. But I remembered what my stats “mirror” had shown me. So, I walked past the first tee and headed to the practice range. I needed to find a swing that would keep me from thinning my five iron (hit more greens) and I needed to find a smoother take-away so that my driver would be more consistent (hit more fairways). The stats mirror was having an effect.

My daily prayer, as I spend time looking into the most important Mirror, is that I leave that time not forgetting what the Spirit has shown me about myself. That I don’t just blissfully join the game of life that day unchanged. That would be the easiest path for sure. Change is hard and change requires my will to be involved, to yield.

As I said above, this is not about earning God’s acceptance – if you have trusted Jesus as your savior, that has already happened. This is about becoming the man or woman of God that looks and acts like Jesus. That’s what I want – and frequent looks into the Mirror helps me track my progress.

How about you?