Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.
Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you….
Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you.
“You take over. —God’s applause!”
Romans 12: 2-3 (The Message)
I wonder why we originally felt the need for a mirror. I suppose it’s because from the beginning of creation our focus was often on ourselves. Think back to Adam and Eve—doing what they thought best versus what God advised. Their focus was themselves, and probably looked for a reflection to see what they looked like in the nearest pond.
Of course a mirror is a handy tool, using it as it reflects back our image—at least on the outside—so we can arrange a shirt collar, get a tie on properly, put makeup on in the right places and amounts, brush our hair, and deal with many other personal matters.
But a mirror also allows us to take a moment to look at ourselves, and perhaps look within a bit, consider our uniqueness, and to meet ourselves fresh and new each day. To spend a moment to look at ourselves. Deeper. To look and think about what’s within us.
To take a moment to honestly evaluate where we are in our journey toward becoming all God created us to be. To be reminded of what we need to change and to begin to move in that direction, so the next time we take a look—that the needed change is no longer on the list of things to do.
There’s a great quote attributed by some to Socrates and others to Ralph Waldo Emerson, which says—
“An unexamined life is not worth living.”
It’s true you know, that if we don’t stop and look within and where we’re headed, and whom we’re becoming—we tend to get off track. We tend to be governed by the ways of the world and what’s going on around us. A look within, and examination of who we are, where we’ve been, and where we seem to be heading could go a long way to getting us back on track to living a life worth living. The life which God created us to live, to have the impact and leave the legacy He intended for us to have.
So why not stop, look and evaluate where we are in our journey in this life. And do it with honesty, candor and humility. Humility, of course, doesn’t mean to drag ourselves down, make ourselves less, or beat ourselves up—but humility to simply remember that God is our standard, our direction, our Creator, our leader, and also—what’s really neat—is that He always wants the best for us.
God is always about lifting us, elevating us and others around us. But it starts when we pause to look where we are and where we’re going—which allows us to lift, correct and make course changes, while seeing what can be the best of ourselves, seeing all the potential that God sees in us, and wants for us in the days ahead.
Our perspective of who we are is not defined by what the world says, sees or reflects back at us.
It is defined by what God says and sees, and our relationship with Jesus Christ—remembering what He did for us to show how much He loved us.
An honest look in front of the mirror reminds us of what He thinks of us, and what He wants for us, and when needed, gets us back on course— His course.
In His Name—Scott
Copyright 2016. Scott L. Whitaker. All rights reserved.
