Seeing Yourself Through God's Eyes (9 page)
Read Seeing Yourself Through God's Eyes Online
Authors: June Hunt
Knowing the mind of Christ comes from times spent with Him and His Word. Seeing yourself through God’s eyes, you develop a deeper oneness of mind and spirit. There can be no greater basis for friendship!
Personalize these verses in your own words:
Romans 12:1-2
Ephesians 4:23
Father, through Your eyes I can see that I…
I have worth because…I am given the mind of Christ.
“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness”
(2 P
ETER
1:3).
I Am Created to Do Good Works for Christ
“We are…created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”
(E
PHESIANS
2:10).
W
e all know what it is like to feel small. As we look around us, it is easy to see people who are performing with peak proficiency, people who are being accomplished, with quickness and creativity. In comparison, we often feel small and feel that we are inadequate, incapable, even inept.
But here’s something important to remember: In God’s economy, bigger isn’t always better. Remember the poor widow in Luke chapter 21 who gave her gift to God? Her “widow’s mite” was the equivalent of only one-twentieth of a penny. Based not on the size of her gift, but on the size of her sacrifice, Jesus singled her out, saying, “This poor widow has put in more than all the others” (Luke 21:3). He was indicating the small offering from her humble heart had far more value than all the other gifts. The widow’s mite was mighty—she had given with a sacrificial heart.
The issue is not size, but sacrifice. The smallest kindness, the smallest deed, will not go unnoticed by God. A small work is a great work when the heart motive is right in God’s sight.
A.W. Tozer wrote, “It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it. The motive is everything. Let a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act.”
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As a child of God, do you realize God has already prepared, in advance, a fulfilling and meaningful work for you to do? This plan was in His mind even before you became His child. Perhaps you might think,
But I’m not really capable of doing anything significant.
Be assured, right now you are fully equipped to do a precious work, a powerful work, a work of love.
I know a woman who takes the “teddy bear stance.” All teddy bears have one common characteristic: Their arms are open wide. Think of the people in our world who are never hugged. What a ministry this dear woman has—encouraging others with a warm embrace! She stands with her arms open wide, ready to share God’s love.
Have you ever felt insignificant because no one noticed you were reaching out? Your sacrificial effort may have seemed too small to be appreciated. Remember, as you see yourself through God’s eyes, you can know even an unseen deed is not hidden from His view: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these…you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). In God’s sight, no sacrifice of the heart is small.
Personalize these verses in your own words:
Psalm 90:17
Colossians 3:23
Father, through Your eyes I can see that I…
I have value because…I am created to do good works for Christ.
“We are…Christ’s ambassadors”
(2 C
ORINTHIANS
5:20).
T
he little girl with blond curls tapped across the screen into the hearts of millions. Her charm attracted children around the world. Dolls with her name flooded the market. The Texas Rangers eventually made her a captain, while the state of Kentucky made her a colonel. The 165,000-member Kiddies Club of England vowed to “follow faithfully the example she set in character, behavior and personal manners.” The phenomenon grew as she starred in film after film.
A reporter once asked, “Shirley Temple, don’t you ever get tired of people pushing and shoving, asking questions and demanding your time?” “No, I don’t mind at all,” she said. “It’s part of my job.” This was a little girl setting an example, a little girl living to the highest potential of her calling.
Child of God, you too have a calling. Ephesians 4:1 says, “Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” What is your calling? To be an ambassador!
In 1974, U.S. President Gerald Ford appointed Shirley Temple Black as an ambassador to officially represent the United States to the people of Ghana. What a position of trust! An ambassador is an official messenger of the highest rank sent by one government to another. This resident representative holds sovereign authority from the homeland to represent, speak, minister, influence, and negotiate. You too have been called to be an ambassador—you are a representative of Christ to a spiritually starved world in need of the Master’s message.
Perhaps you’re thinking,
Others might qualify as an ambassador, but not me! I don’t have the freedom or the language to be an ambassador
—
especially in my family or workplace.
Realize God’s power to speak through you has no constraint. The apostle Paul understood this when he said, while in prison, “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains” (Ephesians 6:19-20).
Because Christ lives in you, His character will be lived through you. You will minister with His mercy. You will represent His righteousness. You will speak with His strength. Even when you don’t have the freedom to speak, remember your influence will be conveyed through His Spirit.
Seeing yourself through God’s eyes, you are an appointed ambassador, called by the King!
Personalize these verses in your own words:
Ephesians 4:1
Matthew 5:14-16
Father, through Your eyes I can see that I…
I have value because…I am an ambassador for Christ.
I Am Being Conformed to Christ
“Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son”
(R
OMANS
8:29).
B
efore a thrilled Olympic audience in 1976, Dorothy Hamill created a sensation as she skated to victory with her “Hamill camel.” Yet even more amazing was the fashion sensation she created with a haircut known as “the wedge,” later called the “Hamill haircut.” In a matter of days, large numbers of Dorothy Hamill look-alikes took to the ice trying to be duplicates of Dorothy.
Have you ever tried to look like someone else? You bought designer clothes, but they only covered your insecurities. You changed your hairstyle, but that didn’t change your self-doubt. How you tried to conform to that which was popular!
The word
conformed
can refer to something transitory and changeable, much like Dorothy’s hairstyle—in one year and out the next. However, when God says He predestined you “to be conformed” to Christ, He is not referring to a transitory
outer
change, but to a transforming
inner
change. When you are conformed to Christlikeness, you are given the ability to have His character on the inside. This will change your conduct on the outside. You will not be pulled by the popular, pushed by the press, or overpowered by politics. Just as Jesus was not shaped and molded by what was happening around Him, you too can withstand external pressure and influences by allowing the character of Christ to develop within you.
One man whose character was conformed to Christ’s was Olympian Eric Liddell. In the 1924 Olympics in Paris, this Scotsman was Great Britain’s hope for winning the 100-meter race. Then came the shocking announcement: The qualifying heat was to be run on a Sunday.
Unthinkable! Eric believed the Sabbath was God’s day. He resolved, “I’m not running the 100-meter race”—not for Scotland, not for Britain, not even for the gold. Though labeled a traitor, he refused to conform to rules that went against his conscience. Instead, Eric began to train for the 400-meter race.
On the day of the race, Eric approached the starting blocks with determination. His qualifying times had not been spectacular, and his contenders were excellent runners. The gun sounded. He was off like a bullet. Flying through the wind, Eric crossed the finish line and set a new world record, winning five full meters ahead of his nearest competitor. From international jeers to cheers, he has been admired for decades as the one who would not conform to the pressures of this world. Why? Because his very life was conformed to the character of Christ. Seeing yourself through God’s eyes, you are being conformed to the image of God’s plan for your life. You will be amazed with His results!
Personalize these verses in your own words:
Hebrews 12:1
Romans 12:2
Father, through Your eyes I can see that I…
I have value because…I am being conformed to Christ.
“You have been made complete”
(C
OLOSSIANS
2:10
NASB
).
I
nternational fame came in 1919 when his calculations bedazzled the world. He was considered the greatest genius on earth. His theories of relativity revolutionized the scientific community. Highly sought after, he traveled to speak in capitals all over the world. He admitted, however, “It is strange to be known so universally and yet to be so lonely.”
These words of Albert Einstein mirror the pain and pathos that have oppressed many human hearts. Loneliness presents a paradox: How can such heaviness come from emptiness? The answer lies in the fact the heart yearns to be connected with someone significant. God made us this way. However, we have all experienced loneliness, which is the state of being cut off from others, or a lack of connectedness with others.
The greatest fear of most single people is loneliness. In 1950, one out of every ten households was a single-person household (9.5 percent). But in 2000, the number of single-person households jumped to one in four (26 percent).
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Sadly, singles often live under the black cloud of incompleteness. Emotional rain clouds, molded by well-meaning friends, pour out their promises: “One day Mr. Right will come and complete you!” “One day you’ll find someone who will make you whole.” No wonder the single person is fearful—who wants to be half a person?
Child of God, at the moment of your salvation you receive the indwelling Christ, whose presence produces total fulfillment, complete wholeness. Colossians 2:9-10 gives the assurance, “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ.” To be full is to be complete at the highest or greatest degree. It is the Savior, not a spouse, who completes you.
Three myths need to be blown away: (1) Singles are always lonely people. No! But they can experience times of isolation. (2) Singles are not whole people. No! When you have Christ in you, you have the fullness of His deity in you to live through you. (3) Only singles are lonely. No! Married individuals can also experience loneliness. But as you see yourself through God’s eyes, whether married or single, you can blow away those black clouds of incompleteness and say with confidence, “I am one complete person, and one is a
whole
number!”