A powerful moment is like a strong cologne or perfume. Long after the moment ends, or the person leaves, the scent lingers.
When I started dating my wife and we started considering marriage, I realized that there were patterns of thinking and behavior in me that needed to change. Like the lingering scent of perfume, I had held on to unhealthy relationship habits that I used to navigate past dating relationships.
One of those habits was that I doubted when a woman said she forgave me. I expected that “forgiven action” to be brought up if I ever stumbled again. I didn’t trust that someone had really moved on because in past experiences, the girls I had dated hadn’t moved on from those things.
I’m sad to say that it took me years to believe my wife when she said, “I’ve forgiven you. I’ve moved on and you need to as well.” I found it so hard to see myself the way she did. She no longer saw me through the lens of my past failure, but I sure did. She forgave me, while I was struggling to forgive myself.
God’s Upside-Down View
Regardless of what your relationship history has been like, we all have this in common - we all struggle to see the world the way God does. It feels like God’s view is completely upside down compared to our culture’s view.
Our culture is obsessed with appearance and things you can observe externally. Yet in 1 Samuel 16:7, we read that “people judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
We’re taught to look strong and work on improving our strengths. But in 2 Corinthians 12 the Apostle Paul says, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
It’s not just our culture’s view that conflicts with God’s view. Our view of us also look radically different than God’s view of us.
How God Sees People is Different Than How People See Themselves
As humans, we battle feelings of insecurity, shame, disappointment, and failure. There’s often a massive gap between how we see ourselves and how God sees us.
For example, when Jesus meets Simon in John 1, he’s meeting a man whose name means “wishy-washy”. However, Jesus gives Simon a new name; He calls him Peter (which means “rock”). Peter wasn’t a rock the day he met Jesus, but Jesus saw the steadfast rock Peter would one day become.
In the Old Testament, an angel of the Lord appears to Gideon in Judges 6, greeting him as a “mighty hero” (some translations read “mighty warrior”). But Gideon is hiding in a winepress and he’s the least of his family. Gideon didn’t see himself as a mighty warrior. Yet by time God was done with him, we all saw what God did.
When the angel Gabriel greeted Mary, he referred to her as one who was blessed and highly favored, very foreign words to Mary. By the time Gabriel shared the news of what God would do through Mary’s womb, though, she began to recognize just how true those words were.
How Can We Embrace God’s Upside Down View of Us?
While it’s hard to embrace God’s view of us, the Scriptures give us a very practical metaphor and practice to help us embrace God’s view of us.
In Colossians 3, the Apostle Paul describes the transformation in our character and perspective to be similar to our clothing. He tells the believers at Colossae to “put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you.” Instead of our earthly perspectives, he calls us to a new perspective - God’s view. “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.”
Each morning, we put on clothes before we leave our homes and begin our days. On some days, we change clothes multiple times a day. We take off workout clothes and we put on work clothes. We take off work clothes and put on comfy clothes. We put on daytime clothes and we put on pajamas. We put on a jacket over our clothes in the winter.
With each change of clothes, we have an opportunity to transform an ordinary practice into a spiritual discipline. What if each time you changed your clothes after work, you imagined yourself putting on your new nature in Christ? What if each time you put on a jacket to go outside, you paused and said, “I am who God says I am?” What if each time you got out of the shower and got dressed for the day, you took a deep breath and whispered, “I am a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come?”
Turn Your Ordinary Rituals into Spiritual Practices
On those days when I struggle with my identity and self-image, I will look in the mirror as I get dressed and complete this sentence (“When I see ________________ about myself, God sees ___________________.”) Getting dressed is transformed from an ordinary ritual into a spiritual practice, where I’m putting on the righteousness of Christ. We can embrace God’s view of us as we look through His eyes in order to see ourselves as He does.
What I see in me is so much smaller and incomplete compared to what God sees in me. Each day, we get the privilege to put on our new nature - His character and who He says we are.
“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” - Colossians 3:12 NLT
Scott Savage is a pastor and a writer who believes he has the best last name ever. He leads Cornerstone Church in Prescott, Arizona. Scott is married to Dani and they are the parents of three “little savages.” He is the creator of the Free to Forgive course and you can read more of his writing at scottsavagelive.com.
