A New Way of Seeing

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. II Corin. 5:16

The young wife sitting in front of me tearfully told the story of her husband’s infidelity two years earlier. The pain poured from her as she repeatedly said: “My life ended that day.” “My life is ruined.” “My life cannot be fixed.”
What do you say to a Christian who thinks their life ended, is ruined and cannot be fixed? With tears in your eyes you gently tell them their life has not ended, is not ruined and does not need to be fixed. You lovingly tell them that their life is Jesus and He is perfectly alive, unchanged and at work right now. You firmly and lovingly tell them “Your life is perfect. The state of your world is another matter and we need to immediately address your world, not your life.”

Seeing our world as our life is seeing according to the flesh. Seeing your world as your life is like looking at Jesus and not being able to see that He is God with us. Jesus is God with us, whether we see it or not. As believers, our life is Christ whether we see it or not. When our world comes crashing down we must not see our life crashing with it. Jesus does not crash.

When we see ourselves, another person or another’s behavior toward us as our life, we commit a deadly spiritual mistake. We have placed our faith in imperfection and that makes us vulnerable to thinking our problems are life issues instead of a world issues.

Attaching our life to the behavior of others and their weaknesses is to live a lie. Lies always are revealed as useless and when they are revealed as useless we feel used. Believing the lie that my world is my life can make me think my life is over, ruined and broken beyond repair. The creates depression and anger.

Here are few very dangerous worldly thoughts….
1. My friends are my life.
2. My body’s current health is my life.
3. My child is my life.
4. My husband or wife is my life.
5. My ministry to others is my life.
6. My work is my life.
Here are the right thoughts…..
1. For to me to live is Christ.
2. It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me.
3. Jesus is perfect, therefore, my life is perfect.
4. In the world I will suffer troubles.
5. My world right now may be a mess, but there is life in me that can overcome it.

The young pastor’s wife left my office repeating with me these words…
“Jesus is my life. My world crashed horribly two years ago, but thank God I am alive in Christ to face this disaster and overcome it because my life can handle it.”
This way of seeing is not easy for us, but we must learn this new way of seeing if we are to deal with the world as it really is.
By the way, how is your life? How is your world? Can you see the difference?

II Corin. 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”