James 1:19-27 – James central image in this passage is of a man looking into the mirror, studying his 'natural face' intently, and then forgetting what he looks like. It is in the forgetting that he loses self control, acts contrary to what he studies, and succumbs to anger, and derails his religion. If we look deeply, we will find that this text shows us that anger is but a symptom of lack of self control, that springs from a misplaced identity. What is the identity we must cultivate to achieve the ability to persevere, tremendous self control, and the practice of true religion, which includes acts of selfless kindness to people who have no worth to us? James tells us we need to look in the mirror each morning and remember our identity in Jesus Christ, our natural and most true identity as human beings.