There is also no growth and healing unless we assess ourselves honestly. We can not accurately assess ourselves if we are not honest with ourselves i.e. we can not fix what we don't know is broken. This is vital if we are to grow.
While it is important to be real, it is equally - if not more - important that we are aligned with who we are designed to be. We will never reach our full potential and be fulfilled until we are - nor will we bring the greatest honor to God by being less than he created us to be.
For most (maybe all) of us, there is a significant gap and real tension between who we are and who we are designed to be i.e. our real self and our true potential self.
Which may be the primary reason for all our struggles. Our journey with all the bumps and bruises is designed to bring us to the place of being our best - highest potential - self i.e. that self that best reflects our Creator (in whose image we have been made) in the way unique to us... which also happens to be where we find greatest joy and fulfillment.
The beauty of being in Christ is we can be real - without threat or concern of rejection - and pursue being the best us at the same time. The key to becoming all we are designed to be (our potential self) is to understand that in Christ, God fully accepts, loves and embraces us no matter how broken the actual (real) me is i.e. God receives us as if we are already perfect even though we are not.
He now calls us to conduct ourselves ²according to and out of this status of perfect approval he has bestowed-assigned-gifted to us by and in Christ. We now pursue our best self because we want to, not because we have to. Out of this posture of complete acceptance we are free to become who we were created to be. In fact it is the ²only way we can. Trying to be our best self without being empowered by God's love (total acceptance) is futile... a "work of the flesh."
We also must recognize who we are, is not necessarily (or likely) the best version of us and who we were created to be. Being the real you is important but is not necessarily or automatically the best you.
While it is important to be real, it is equally - if not more - important that we are aligned with who we are designed to be. We will never reach our full potential and be fulfilled until we are - nor will we bring the greatest honor to God by being less than he created us to be.
For most (maybe all) of us, there is a significant gap and real tension between who we are and who we are designed to be i.e. our real self and our true potential self.
Which may be the primary reason for all our struggles. Our journey with all the bumps and bruises is designed to bring us to the place of being our best - highest potential - self i.e. that self that best reflects our Creator (in whose image we have been made) in the way unique to us... which also happens to be where we find greatest joy and fulfillment.
The beauty of being in Christ is we can be real - without threat or concern of rejection - and pursue being the best us at the same time. The key to becoming all we are designed to be (our potential self) is to understand that in Christ, God fully accepts, loves and embraces us no matter how broken the actual (real) me is i.e. God receives us as if we are already perfect even though we are not.
He now calls us to conduct ourselves ²according to and out of this status of perfect approval he has bestowed-assigned-gifted to us by and in Christ. We now pursue our best self because we want to, not because we have to. Out of this posture of complete acceptance we are free to become who we were created to be. In fact it is the ²only way we can. Trying to be our best self without being empowered by God's love (total acceptance) is futile... a "work of the flesh."
For a discussion on how God doesn't need us but delights in us click here.
For a discussion on the essence of God's life click here.
For a discussion on the essence of God's life click here.
For a further discussion on being real click here.
______________________________
¹God already completely knows who we are so there's no point in pretending to be someone we are not. He even knows what we will do and say before we say or do it (Psa 139) i.e. we never surprise God by our good or poor choices and actions. We may attempt to use pretense to avoid rejection and protect ourselves or bolster our image in the eyes of others but this doesn't help with God. He already knows and sees us (and everything abouts use along with everything else) as we truly are.
²Knowing we are significant and highly regarded-valued by God (so much so he sent his eternally beloved Son to restore us) stirs in us a desire to honor Him. The more we see how much God delights in us the greater our desire to bring him joy.
God is attracted to and delights in his image in us. Even though that image is marred, the potential for us to fully participate and delight in God and the fullness of life among and between the Father, Son and Spirit, is still perfectly intact. God is constantly working to bring that image with our innate potential into greater union, wholeness, and fruition so we (God and I) might mutually delight (glory) in the other to the greatest extent possible. This is the means of our greatest joy and a source of great delight for God.
______________________________
¹God already completely knows who we are so there's no point in pretending to be someone we are not. He even knows what we will do and say before we say or do it (Psa 139) i.e. we never surprise God by our good or poor choices and actions. We may attempt to use pretense to avoid rejection and protect ourselves or bolster our image in the eyes of others but this doesn't help with God. He already knows and sees us (and everything abouts use along with everything else) as we truly are.
²Knowing we are significant and highly regarded-valued by God (so much so he sent his eternally beloved Son to restore us) stirs in us a desire to honor Him. The more we see how much God delights in us the greater our desire to bring him joy.
God is attracted to and delights in his image in us. Even though that image is marred, the potential for us to fully participate and delight in God and the fullness of life among and between the Father, Son and Spirit, is still perfectly intact. God is constantly working to bring that image with our innate potential into greater union, wholeness, and fruition so we (God and I) might mutually delight (glory) in the other to the greatest extent possible. This is the means of our greatest joy and a source of great delight for God.
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Grace to you
Jim Deal