Grace full mama

There are two kinds of people in this world. People who care about how they are perceived, and people who care about who they are. You cannot be both, though at some time, we all have been.

We all have struggled with having idols. Money is common. Love. Control, comfort, success,body image, self reliance… every one of us has put something before God in our lives at some point. Every one of us have served something that isn’t his kingdom, building a stick house on a sand foundation and then often uttering a flippant prayer asking God to bless it. Every one of us has spent a little time building a kingdom here on earth instead of one in heaven.

What I have discovered, through time, is that the most common idol by far is ourselves. Our self image. The way that others perceive us. Anytime you worry about how you are perceived, every time you are “self conscious,” or “insecure,” you are struggling with serving the idol of your own self image. The problem is, if we are busy trying to make sure the world sees us a particular way, we rob God of the ability to make us a certain way. It takes absolute humility to go to God and ask him to transform you, again and again and again. It takes being able to look into the depths of your soul and see the sin, the triggers, the wounds, the strongholds that keep you from reflecting the image of Jesus, and asking him for help. You can’t find lasting change if you are too busy trying to convince yourself or those around you that you don’t need it. If you are busy taping an image over the mirror so that you can’t see the truth, you will simply continue to deteriorate.

We are all on a trajectory. None of us remain the same. We are rivers, not lakes. Not one of us is stagnant. We sow seeds; and eventually the seeds we sow bring forth fruit or weeds, exponentially more than what we planted in the first place.

If someone lies, to cover up their insecurity, or ensure that they are perceived in a certain way, the first lie might feel bitter on their tongue, stabbing their soul with an icy sword. But those lies will get easier.

If someone controls other people, they might feel guilty for their overt manipulation the first time; but as they continue to work their magic using emotion to evoke a response in their victim, they will believe it is their right.

When we sow in conscious sin, our conscience becomes “seared.” Seared here means numb, unresponsive, and desensitised. It is skin that has been burned so many times it loses all feeling. We kill Jimminy.

When we choose transformation and repentance, we also reap far more than we sow! Our humility brings with it real change; A sensitised conscience, the ability to become better. We transform from glory to glory.

Our power is in letting go of our power. It is in only worrying about who we are to Jesus, to only care about what he is shaping out of the clay that is our hearts. Our power is in asking him to refine us, heat us, so that the impurities comes to the surface and can be skimmed off the top. If we spend our lives trying to prove to the people around us that there is no impurities, we rob ourselves of ever being able to get rid of it.

If you are honest, how often are you more worried about how you are perceived than about dealing with your sin? It isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it looks like “I think they think I am…”

“Do they really think I don’t have what it takes?”

“I want them to know I am successful…”

It can be born out of pain. It can feel like proving yourself.

It. Feels. Justified.

If it feels justified… look deeply. The only thing that can justify us is the precious blood of Jesus, my friends. It doesn’t matter if it is ‘understandable,’ or ‘relatable.’ Of course it is. We live in a fallen world. Our sin is in good company. We are supposed to be swimming against the current, remember?

Give up your image. Catch yourself every time you are concerned about how you are perceived rather than going to the father with repentance and asking to be transformed. Our image is so often about the comfort of feeling accepted and liked by other people; but people aren’t really supposed to like you. Unless they are on the same path of transformation, a lot of them won’t. We need to give up our people pleasing. We need to give up caring about what anyone thinks of us.

“And the Lord, who is the Spirit, makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

Give up your image, so that you can be transformed into his image!