And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
— Philippians 1:6
I ask you to take pause now and consider yourself, say ten years ago. What do you “see” in terms of spiritual growth? I bet you see a lot if you are viewing your life through the lens of the Word of God! You see, that’s half the battle - having our eyesight turned on, so to speak. If we view God’s good work in us through a worldly or fleshly lens, we might say, “Oh man, I’m worse off now than I’ve ever been!” I suppose this statement might be true if God measured growth by worldly standards. But He doesn’t. He measures it by His own currency, grace!
Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
— Luke 6:38
We give and we’re blessed in return. That’s what Jesus taught us.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the measure we receive in return is based upon the world’s scale of value. In fact, the Bible warns us against making that grave mistake. If we engage in this error, we miss out on the encouragement of seeing God’s good work in us! For example, if we’re looking for silver and gold, we miss the true reward of helping another; or, if we’re looking for creature credit, we miss seeing someone else’s life being edified.
So, the first thing we have to do is remember that we are not to evaluate our growth by world standards. If we do, it’s very likely we will perceive it as negative - doh! The reality may be that there’s been tremendous growth in you, but you’ve been bewitched by the kingdom of darkness. All it takes is a bit of truth to set you free! Perspective is everything - remember that.
Here’s a perfect example I was thinking about recently. The world tells us that we need to spend our time taking care of ourselves, even if it’s at the expense of those around us. In other words, the world promotes a self-preseveration mentality. To be fair, it’s an easy game to promote, given the primitive fact that we’re all born this way (e.g., who’s more self-preserving than a newborn baby?). Looking out for self comes quite natural to us - it’s humanity’s default disposition (this is an unbeliever's status quo). However, the Bible teaches us something very different:
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
— Philippians 2:3
Instead of being self-preserving, the Bible tells us that God’s intention for His own children is that they become like Christ, “others-preserving.” Now, remember that vision of yourself from ten years ago? Is it fair to say (I’m not a betting man, but I’m betting I’m right on this) that you’re much less selfish than you used to be…much less self-preserving than you were years ago? Is it fair to say that there’s a noticeable difference between your attitude towards others today than back then? Well, you can thank God for that. It’s called sanctification. Are you ready for the mind blow???
Sanctification happens for believers. It never doesn’t happen. To suggest otherwise is to declare God incapable of delivering on His promises. If you’re a believer, you have been changed. Period. My encouragement to you is to apply God’s lens to your life so that you can actually see and appreciate those changes.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
— Romans 8:28-31
Allow me to loosely summarize the above passage for the purpose of this blog: God never fails. If He is for us (and He is), then we must believe that whatever He has set out to do in us, as individuals, will come to pass. In fact, a lot of stuff has already come to pass in you! All you need is the right perspective!
Some of you need to stop being so hard on yourselves. God is a God of compassion and mercy. Stop listening to the whispers from the kingdom of darkness, they aren’t true. Read your Bible and you’ll realize that what I am writing here is absolute truth. God isn’t a god of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33), so He certainly doesn’t want any of us to be confused about all the good things He’s done in us! Go ahead and rejoice in the simple fact that He’s changed you. You’re no longer the same, nor will you ever be again. Loose the chains, drop the lies about yourself. You’re a co-victor in Christ Jesus, my friend - embrace it, live it, love it! And, oh by the way, there’s a lot more where that came from!
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins
