The Face in the Bathroom Mirror: James 1 and the House Jobs We Know About but Never Do

Every morning, in many homes, someone stands at the bathroom mirror and notices the same thing. Not their face, but the brown stain spreading on the ceiling just behind their reflection. They see it, think “I must get somebody to look at that roof,” brush their teeth, and walk out. By the time they reach the gate, it is forgotten. Tomorrow they will see it again.

James could almost have been standing in that bathroom. “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was” (James 1:23-24).

The long list of things we already know

Most households are not short of information. We know a great deal about what our homes and families need. The difficulty is almost never knowing. It is doing. Consider how many of these sit in the back of your mind:

• The gutters that need clearing before the rains.
• The loose wiring behind the fridge.
• The will that has been “on the list” for eight years.
• The title that is still in a dead grandparent’s name.
• The conversation with siblings about who will care for Mummy and what happens to the house.
• The insurance policy nobody has read since it was bought.
• The apology owed to the neighbour after that argument about the tree.

None of these are secrets. We have heard the sermon about stewardship, read the article about wills, watched the video about storm preparation. We nodded. And then we walked away from the mirror.

Why hearing feels like enough

James warns that hearing without doing is a way of deceiving ourselves (James 1:22). The deception is subtle. When we hear something true and agree with it, we get a small feeling of having dealt with it. Agreeing feels like progress. Planning to do it someday feels almost like having done it. Meanwhile the stain on the ceiling keeps spreading.

There are other reasons too. Some jobs are expensive, or we fear what we will find. Some conversations are painful. Some tasks, like a will, force us to think about our own death. It is easier to keep them in the category of “I know, I know” than to move them into the category of “done.”

Looking intently, and continuing

James offers a contrast: “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:25).

Two words stand out. The first is “looks,” which in the original carries the sense of stooping down to look closely, the way you might crouch to examine a crack at the bottom of a wall. The second is “continues.” The blessing does not come from a single glance or a burst of good intentions. It comes from staying with what you have seen until it changes what you do.

And notice where the blessing lands: “in what he does.” Not in what he intends, or plans, or agrees with. In the doing.

From mirror to action

Here are a few small ways to close the gap between knowing and doing at home:

• Write it where you will see it. One household job, written on paper and taped to the actual mirror, has a way of getting done.
• Take the first step, not the whole job. You do not have to fix the roof today. You only have to call the roofer. You do not have to finish the will. You only have to book the appointment with an attorney-at-law.
• Tell someone. A spouse, a friend or a church brother who will ask next week, “Did you call about the roof?”
• Pick one a month. Twelve items done in a year will change a household more than a hundred items acknowledged.
• Pray over the hard ones. Some tasks sit undone because they carry grief, fear or old conflict. Ask God for courage specifically for those.

A freer house

James calls God’s word “the perfect law of liberty.” There is real liberty in a household where the known things are done. The low hum of worry about the roof goes quiet. The family knows what will happen to the house. The neighbour waves again. Doing what we know is right is not a burden added to life; it lifts a burden we have been carrying for years without admitting it.

For reflection

• What have I seen in the mirror of my home, again and again, and walked away from?
• What is the smallest first step I could take on it this week?

Lord, you have shown me what needs doing in my home, and I have too often looked and walked away. Give me the courage to take the first step, and the steadiness to continue, so that I may be blessed in the doing. Amen.

This article is general information only and is not financial, legal, tax or other professional advice. Please speak to a qualified professional about your own circumstances.

Follow Jamaica Homes on Youtube @jamaicahomes and Instagram @jamaica_homes and on Facebook @jamaicahomesnews Send us a message or email us at onlinefeedback@jamaica-homes.com or editor@jamaica-homes.com