Renewing Your Mind (Victory Series Book #4): Become More Like Christ (6 page)

Micah 6:6–8

Key Point

No God-given goal for your life can be blocked, uncertain, or impossible.

Key Verse

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you.

1 Thessalonians 4:11

T
he process of walking by faith can be illustrated by the game of golf. Suppose a five-year-old child hits the ball 75 yards but is 15 degrees off the center of the fairway. Because of the short distance, the ball will probably land in the fairway. When the child is 12 years old, he hits the ball 200 yards but again is 15 degrees off. Now the ball is probably in the rough. When the child becomes an adult and hits the ball 300 yards, a 15-degree error could land the ball out of bounds.

If what we believe is 15 degrees off from the Word of God, there may not be many negative consequences when we are young. However, there will be consequences if we continue on that course through midlife. We end up playing out of the rough or being penalized for being out of bounds. The midlife crisis is a plan led astray. There are near and far consequences for everything we have chosen to believe. As our culture drifts further away from its Judeo-Christian roots, the consequences of what our young people believe are showing up before they reach adulthood.

We don’t have to wait until life falls apart to find out whether or not our walk is true. Our emotional response to what we think and believe reveals whether we are on the right path. Remember that our emotions are predominantly a product of our thought life. Consciously or subconsciously, we have certain ideas or goals in our minds for how we should live and what must happen in order for us to be happy, satisfied, and successful. Often, our sense of worth is tied to those goals.

If you found out your supervisor was blocking your goal of being promoted, you would probably feel angry. If the promotion was uncertain, you would probably feel anxious every time you thought about it. If you thought your goal for a promotion was impossible, you would likely feel depressed.

We will be on an emotional roller coaster if we believe our identity and sense of worth are dependent on other people and life’s circumstances. If a pastor believes his sense of worth is dependent on the response of his congregation, he may try to manipulate them into responding the way he wants, but every member of the congregation can block that goal. Likewise, if a mother believes her sense of self-worth depends on having a harmonious Christian family, every family member can block that goal, but nobody can keep that mother from being the person God created her to be.

Paul said the goal of our instruction is love (see 1 Timothy 1:5) and “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience . . . self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23
NASB
). Notice the fruit of the Spirit is self-control, not congregational control or child control. Also notice the fruit of the Spirit is singular (“fruit,” not “fruits”). God’s love manifests itself in joy, peace, and patience. If our goal in life is to become the person God created us to be, then the fruit of the Spirit becomes evident in our lives. Regardless of
circumstances, we experience joy instead of depression, peace instead of anxiety, and patience instead of anger. Nobody and nothing can keep us from being sanctified but ourselves.

Why should we consider the long-term consequences of what we choose to believe?

What do anger, anxiety, and depression reveal?

What is fundamentally wrong with people who try to control others or manipulate circumstances in order to meet their goals?

What is keeping you from being the person God created you to be? Is that your goal?

What plans do you have right now that others can block? How can you change that?

His promise is that “my God will supply every need of yours,” that God Himself might stand ready to help them receive all that He has provided for them in the abundant greatness of His glory in Christ Jesus. It is indeed the glory of Jesus Christ when by the will of God the desires of Christians are fulfilled in accordance with the teaching of the gospel (emphasis added).

Ambrosiaster (written c. AD 366–384)

Luke 12:13–21

Key Point

There is nothing wrong with having godly desires, but we cannot base our identity and sense of worth on their fulfillment.

Key Verse

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified.

1 Thessalonians 4:3

A
ccording to Jesus, “life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). A foolish man works toward the wrong end. To live a successful and satisfied life, we have to have the right goals. No God-given goals for our lives can be impossible, uncertain, or blocked. Even the secular world knows that the authority of leaders is undermined if they issue commands that cannot be obeyed. So, if God wants something done, it can be done! “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37
NASB
), and “I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13
NKJV
). However, “all things” has to be consistent with God’s will.

To understand how we can successfully live the Christian life, we need to make a distinction between godly goals and godly desires.
A godly goal is any specific orientation
that reflects God’s purpose for our lives and that
is not dependent on people or circumstances beyond our right
or ability to control.
The only person we have the right and the ability to control is ourselves. Nobody and nothing can keep us from being the person God created us to be—and God’s goal is for us to become that person. If we are honest with ourselves, we will look in the mirror and say, “The only person who can keep me from reaching that goal is me!”

A godly desire is any specific result that depends on the cooperation of other people, the success of events, or favorable circumstances that we have no right or ability to control. We cannot base our identity, success, or sense of worth on our desires, no matter how godly they may be, because we cannot control their fulfillment. God desires that all would repent and live (see Ezekiel 18:32), but not all will. God writes to His children so that they may not sin (see 1 John 2:1), but His sovereignty and His success are not dependent on whether or not we sin.

Suppose a well-meaning pastor has one primary goal, and that is to triple the size of his church and win his community to Christ. Although his desire is a worthy one, every member of the community can block that goal. Relentless in his pursuit, the pastor could start manipulating his people and pressuring them to produce. The pastor’s church will suffer a lot of pain until he realizes that his goal is to become the pastor God created him to be, and that this is the best way to reach his community for Christ. If the pastor makes this his primary aim, no one in his congregation can block it. The pastor himself is the only one who can.

There is nothing wrong with having godly desires such as reaching our community for Christ. However, we shouldn’t base our identity and sense of worth on their fulfillment. We should never try to control and manipulate people in order to accomplish our goals. Nor should we get angry, anxious, or depressed if our desires are not met—though we may feel disappointed. Life is full of disappointments, but they are likely God’s appointments to greater maturity in Christ. Other people don’t always cooperate and events
don’t always go our way, but these realities of life are not keeping us from conforming to the image of God.

In Philippians 4:13, Paul says that we can do all things through Christ. However, what condition must be placed on “all things”?

What is the difference between a godly goal and a godly desire?

Why can we not base our identity or sense of worth on godly desires? What happens when we try to do so?

How can you be the person God created you to be in your profession or role in life?

For the sake of your own emotional stability, what plans/goals do you have right now that should be redefined as a desire?

The good man, being temperate and just, treasures up his wealth in heaven. He who has sold his worldly goods and given them to the poor finds the imperishable treasure “where there is neither moth nor robber.” . . . It is not jewels, gold, clothing, or beauty of person that are of high value, but virtue.

Clement of Alexandria (AD 150–215)

2 Peter 1:3–11

Key Point

True believers derive their sense of worth from their identity in Christ and their growth in character.

Key Verses

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:10–11

H
ow does a Christian establish a true sense of worth? Some seek for it through the exercise of spiritual gifts! Spiritual gifts are important for building up the Body of Christ, but we don’t all have the same gifts. Therefore, “God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body” (1 Corinthians 12:24–25). So, a Christian can’t establish worth
through spiritual gifts, because those with greater gifts would have greater worth, and that is not true.

Our individual talents make a contribution to the kingdom of God, but God has given five talents to some, two talents to some, and only one talent to others. Does that mean that only the Christian with five talents can have any legitimate sense of worth? The answer is a definite no, and those who try to find their identity and sense of worth in gifts and talents run the risk of not accomplishing God’s primary goal for their lives, which is godly character.

Are intelligence, beauty, and performance the means by which we gain a sense of worth? The answer again is no. Paul writes, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him” (1 Corinthians 1:27–29).

There is certainly nothing wrong with being an intelligent and beautiful performer, especially if you use your gifts to the glory of God. After all, it was God who gave those life endowments! However, while God has not equally distributed gifts, talents, and intelligence to all, He has equally distributed Himself. “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life. . . . Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:3–4).

Unlike this world, the ground before the cross is level. We all have the same standing in Christ. We find our sense of worth in our new identity and in our growth in character. Those who know who they are in Christ and have a life characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control will have a legitimate sense of worth and will not be unfruitful. The good news is that every Christian has exactly the same opportunity to accomplish that goal and receive the same inheritance in Christ.

What is wrong if some Christians don’t possess these qualities? According to Peter, they have become near-sighted and blind and have lost sight of the fact that they have been cleansed from all their sins (see 2 Peter 1:9). They have taken their eyes off the Lord and have forgotten (or never
knew) who they are in Christ. They need to take their eyes off this world and fix their eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of their faith. “Dear friends, now we are children of God. . . . All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:2–3).

What is wrong with basing our sense of worth in God-given endowments rather than in who we are?

How does our relationship with Christ provide us with a sense of worth? Why is this the only legitimate path to feel good about ourselves?

How good would we feel toward ourselves if we failed to grow in character, even if we knew that we are children of God?

How can you have a legitimate sense of worth and never stumble?

If you knew that God loved you as His child and your life demonstrated the fruit of the Spirit, would you feel good about yourself? Why or why not?

There are many who say they have faith in Christ but somehow seem to forget about this pure aspect of it. It is clear that anyone who has real faith will demonstrate that fact by living a life of good works . . . by rejecting ungodliness and worldly desires and by imitating Christ’s sober, righteous, and godly life.

Bede (AD 673–735)