His Image In Your Countenance 

This quote reminded me of a Seminary lesson I once did many years ago. I decided to hold a trial in our class. The "defendant" was accused of being a Christian. The purpose of the lesson was to see if there was enough evidence to convict them of being a Christian.

Is there enough evidence to convict you? Are we really an "example of the believers" (1 Timothy 4:12) in all we do and say? Do people know that we follow the teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ by our words and our actions?  In Timothy it says "in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."

Alma puts it another way in Alma 5:14 when he asks, "...Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?" I like that visual image of His image in our countenances.  

There is a story told about a woman who goes to a silversmith to watch the process of refining silver.

The Refiner’s Fire

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ (Malachi 3:3) She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know when the silver is fully refined?’ He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’

That is what it means to see His image in our countenance. It is after we are purified and refined through life. We are ready when we can see His image in our countenance.

The amazing side note to all of this is other people can also see His image in our countenance. Have you ever seen a person who may have been a complete stranger to you, but you could tell they were good just by looking at them. It wasn't physical beauty, but an inner glow that was actually visible. 

That is EXACTLY what I saw when I met my husband for the first time. He "glowed". I had never seen anything like it before but there was something very different about him from the first time I saw him. As I got to know him I learned he had recently returned from being a missionary for two years in Australia. He taught me about the Church and about my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I knew then that it was the Light of Christ in him. He had the image of the Savior in his countenance. He still does!