We must be who we are because anything else is *pretense. This is vital if we are to grow. There is no growth and healing unless we honestly assess ourselves. We can not fix what we don't know is broken.
It is important to be real but 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 in 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 self i.e. that self that best reflects our Creator (in whose image we have been made)... which also happens to be where we find Greatest Joy and fulfillment.
The key to becoming all we are designed to be is to understand that in Christ, God fully accepts, loves and embraces us no matter how broken the 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 **according to and out of this status of perfect approval he bestowed-assigned-gifted to us. Out of this posture of complete acceptance we are now free to become our best self. In fact it is the **only way we can. Trying to be our best self without being empowered by God's love is futal... a "work of the flesh."
But 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 not necessarily or automatically being the best you.
It is important to be real but 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 in 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 self i.e. that self that best reflects our Creator (in whose image we have been made)... which also happens to be where we find Greatest Joy and fulfillment.
The key to becoming all we are designed to be is to understand that in Christ, God fully accepts, loves and embraces us no matter how broken the 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 **according to and out of this status of perfect approval he bestowed-assigned-gifted to us. Out of this posture of complete acceptance we are now free to become our best self. In fact it is the **only way we can. Trying to be our best self without being empowered by God's love is futal... 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.
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*God 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 all things as they truly are.
** Knowing we are significant and highly regarded 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 in and delight in God and the life of God and its fullness among Father, Son and Spirit, is still perfectly intact. God is constantly working to bring that image with our innate potential to greater wholeness and fruition so we 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 joy for God as well.
__________________________
*God 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 all things as they truly are.
** Knowing we are significant and highly regarded 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 in and delight in God and the life of God and its fullness among Father, Son and Spirit, is still perfectly intact. God is constantly working to bring that image with our innate potential to greater wholeness and fruition so we 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 joy for God as well.
