Throughout my life I have periodically received a "word of knowledge" from well-intentioned, but misguided people which has brought great turmoil to my soul. Pressed by their own personal woundedness or an unrealistic desire to see me "perfected" overnight, they have given me what they felt was a word from God. They have rightly seen areas in my life that are not perfect, and viewing me through eyes clouded by religious idealism spoke, "There's something wrong with you!"
Well, in all fairness to them I have to say that they were right. What they were seeing was true - there is something wrong with me. To be sure, there are a lot of "somethings" wrong with me. I am very much a work in process and I will be the first to admit that I am not what I need to be or what I desire to be.
I know that as I grow in the Lord, I am being transformed into His image. But frankly, I have a long way to go before completely attaining His likeness. That is my pursuit; however, I do not think that I will perfectly bare His likeness while on this planet. This is not an attempt to justify my failings, but simply a realistic expectation of my own human nature.
Deadly Idealism
Idealism guided by religious zeal and pride can be very destructive to others. We, our ministries, and the church as a whole are all a work in process. We are all changed little by little, from glory to glory. We are all at different places in our walk with the Lord. It is immaturity to judge each other through idealistic eyes, seeking perfection overnight and usually results in frustration and hopelessness. We must stop judging each other through the unrealistic expectations of idealism and grant each other the grace to fail. As we all will fail, we must grant each other the grace to fail and offer an abundance of forgiveness to one another or we will become a stumbling block to them.
It is very easy to see what is wrong with our brother and point out his problem, but it is another thing altogether to become the means by which our brother can be helped and changed. We must become each other's cheerleader!!! And as we fail and fall, let us be the true voice of God on earth and encourage one another that we can become all that God has dreamed we would be.
Although we do indeed have a long way to go before we are made perfectly into His image, we need to be reminded of how far we have come. To be encouraged that God is changing us, working on us and as we humbly surrender to His will, we will bare His likeness. Idealism wounds the church, but the grace of God flowing through one another will liberate us and set us free to fly - to soar over our past and live in Jesus! We will soar with wings as eagles as we forgive and are forgiven, as we cover each others faults with the unconditional love of Christ (see 1 Peter 4:8).
Church, we need to repent of judging each other through eyes clouded by idealism and ask the Lord to show us His creation clearly through eyes of love! We are all together in this and there is no one who is unredeemable. We must grant each other the grace we need to become who we are in Christ. We must put an axe to the root of the tree of idealism and unrealistic expectation and become ambassadors of truth, hope and love; conveying the truth delivering it in love, giving hope to others.
The Truth Is
The truth is, dear ones, your Creator loves you! He is your true Father and He loved you with an overwhelming love even before you were born. He loved you before you even knew Him. He loved you as much from the start as He will ever love you and He saw in you then what you will become to Him and in Him - He is proud of you.
You are His beloved; the child of His heart. He has given you all that you need to live for Him, which is indeed Him! He is all you need! And as you keep your eyes focused on Him, not on your faults or the faults of others, you will truly become like Him. You will become one with Him and bare His likeness.Things may not always go the way you would like them to go, but you can know without a doubt your wonderful heavenly Father, your Creator and Almighty God loves you unconditionally.
Thank you, dear Father, for your wonderful love. Fill us with a renewed sense of Your love for us, and give us hope and revitalize our faith that our joy would be overflowing! Help us to keep our eyes on you! Help us hold fast to the hope that we will become the promised bride of our Lord and King, made spotless by His blood and perfected by His righteousness. Liberate Your church, dear Father, and help us to soar!
by Victoria Boyson
Victoria Boyson, Inc.
www.boyson.org
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