How Do You See Yourself?
How do you see yourself?
It’s a deep and complex question indeed. How we view ourselves is revealed in every situation in which we live. Our homelife, our work life, our social life. It affects how we think about the past, the present and future. It impacts how we view God, other people, our political leanings…how you see yourself is one of the most important things about you.
How did that view-of-self come to be? What came-your-way, took root and grew into what you now believe? A young child, born into a family where there was nurture and love, has no insecurities about who they are. They live freely as a loved child. As the child grows, other informing voices and situations come and the child comes to see themselves in a different light.
This, dear friend, is how faith comes to be. Faith is how you see the world. Faith is most dynamically informed by how you see yourself. You cannot muster up faith - you can only water it. And what you water it with is a matter of the highest significance.
In my six+ decades on this big, beautiful globe, I’ve noticed a few themes of how folks see themselves. The two on my mind today are probably the two areas where great transformation is possible, destined in fact. But they have to be identified for what they are and the person has to want to be called higher still. And (this is really good news indeed) there is a higher calling in life!
The Settled-self: a person can get to the place where they simply believe that ‘this is all there is’. It is, I suppose, a way of trying to continue on without the benefit of a once-held dream. Perhaps a failure or a setback came. Perhaps a trauma or a momentum-busting situation arose. The settled self is trying to survive but lacks faith-building hope. No judgement. We’ve all had these moments and, for some, they continue into the current season.
The Self-reliant-self: If it’s to be, it’s up to me is the mantra here. The world is your oyster so you grab all there is to grab with gusto. Ain’t no mountain you can’t climb. This is the best-selling self image out there and it’s the most culturally celebrated. Bookshelves are lined with countless tomes written in the spirit of self-help. The downside, however, is cataclysmic. The self, at the center of how we see the world, is the breeding ground of how culture itself devolves. The self-reliant self waters a faith system that grows inward and becomes worthless to the world.
As I walk with others in life, at work, in groups and various settings, it is quite easy to identify the ways folks see and view their world. It’s still easier to notice their prominence as we watch what comes our way through the various voices and images that find their way to our eyes via screens held in our hands, sitting on our desks and mounted to our walls. Folks are both settling and becoming more self reliant.
But this is not what our Creator designed for us or wants for us. Life, and life to the full, is still available. That life is for us and it’s never been more available than now~we just have to want that. We have to want that more than anything else.
My work, in the marketplace, involves both advancing the mission of the bank I work for and advancing the message I’m writing out to you today. I’m not trying to get anyone to go to church, to quit working hard and flourshing in your endeavorsl…I’m encouraging whoever needs to know that we change when our faith changes as we receive - anew or afresh - our true identity from the One who made us, who loves us, who calls us to do great things in this world. The freedom that comes, the impact you’ll have, the joy you’ll know, the vision that will come, the peace that will guard your heart and mind, the hope that will flow out of you - you will find that losing your old-self and finding your true-self can never be taken away and you’ll live consecrated for a most profound future the rest of your days.
He is no fool who trades that which he cannot keep for that which he cannot lose.
James Elliot
May your heart be encouraged at the possibility of such a gift awaiting you today. May your courage rise up to receive it.
Peace~
Craig
*Your thoughts and comments are always welcome! I’d love to hear what’s stirring in you today.
