To live the exemplary life God intends:
3. I must be settled once and for all as to who I most deeply am and therefore where life is to be found.
Like scuba divers on the floor of the sea, the apostles knew they were living in an alien environment. They were not of this world (John 17:14, 16). Life for them had come from above...from their true home. Though to the world, they may have appeared to be a bit strange, they knew they were aliens. They looked at life through different eyes. Their awareness of their new identity produced in them a revolutionary change as to why they were alive...as to who and what it was that gave purpose and significance to their existence.
No longer was meaning or personal worth measured by prosperity or worldly acclaim. Holiness comes in saying no to all of my desires in order to say yes to God. Paul said, "I have suffered the loss of all things...that I may gain Christ." He knew that to say death to the flesh was simultaneously saying life, not only to the glory of God but also to himself as a future partaker of that glory as a joint heir with his Lord. Christians who really know this can truly be themselves without being selfish.
It's so easy to find self worth in other places: physical attractiveness, intelligence, our grasp of the scriptures, talents, abilities, giftedness, ministry successes, material things, realtionships, position and power...and the list could go on. If these things are working for you then why should we seek a higher calling?
We must acknowledge that though we may have many things that commend us to ourselves and others, our greatest worth is found in discovering that we are God's masterpieces. This enables us to move forward in our discovery of meaning...we can focus less on self and increasingly more on life right in front of us! Though the initial focus is on identity, the lasting focus must be on life. "And this is eternal life," Jesus said, "that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3) John later added that if we truly know God, our active reaching out in love toward people would be the proof that our life indeed was from God (1 John 4:7-12). Hence, authentic life is always relational, both vertical and horizontal.
Adapted from "Birthright" by David Needham
Blessings,
Mitch
