When I was in my midtwenties, I participated in the Foundational Class The Way Ministry offered at the time. Throughout the teachings the Scriptures unveiled the way God sees me as His child and the vision He has for my life. I soon discovered that God had a much higher opinion of me than I had of myself! This prompted me to begin researching and writing down verses about who I am according to God’s Word and to make a determined effort to change the way I think and speak about myself. Thus began my journey on a new path of life to see myself from God’s elevated view and to achieve the potential He gave me in Christ.
How do you view yourself? Do you speak well of yourself, or do you focus on your shortcomings and character flaws? If we carry a negative self-image and confess that we are less than what God’s Word says we are in any category of life, we will live far below par. We want to see ourselves from God’s perspective; then we’ll condition our mouths to say what the Word says we are so that we may manifest our God-given potential. Let’s begin by looking at how powerful God’s Word is and then explore how we can tap into this power in order to change and transform our lives to what God desires for us.
When we consider the power behind God’s Word, we must understand that there is no difference between God’s direct speaking, His speaking from the mouth of a messenger, and His speaking in written form. It carries the same power from God to man. In whatever form it may take, the Word of God carries with it His truth and His authority as well as His power. Our heavenly Father is eternally active; therefore, His Word is energetic and active and is backed by all of His power and might.
Genesis 1:3:
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
When God speaks, what He speaks comes to pass. The phrase “And God said” is stated repeatedly throughout the first chapter of Genesis. The power of the spoken Word of God restored the earth in six days, bringing it out of complete chaos and destruction, changing a formless void into paradise!
Psalms 33:6 and 9:
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
These two verses describe the awesome power of God. The entire universe responds to the Word of the Lord and is subject to His commands. When God speaks, it is done. When He gives a command, it stands. As God is, so is His Word.
Now that we have an understanding of just how powerful God’s Word is, how can we tap into this tremendous power and put it to work to change our lives for the better and help us reach our potential in Christ? We do this simply by thinking and saying what God’s Word says about us. Let’s consider the first part of the equation—thinking what God’s Word says about us.
Marcus Aurelius, a philosopher who ruled the Roman Empire in the second century (A.D.), stated, “Our life is what our thoughts make it.” The renowned nineteenth-century American essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson acknowledged, “A man is what he thinks about all day long.” What both of these men concluded is that our thoughts determine who we are. Long before Aurelius and Emerson, this truth was recorded in Proverbs 23.
Proverbs 23:7:
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he….
The word “heart” in this verse refers to the innermost part of the mind. How do you view yourself deep down in your innermost being? Do you really see yourself as God sees you, or do you spend more time contemplating your past failures, shortcomings, and inadequacies? Since our deepest thoughts shape our lives, it would be to our advantage to expose our thoughts to conscious scrutiny. In other words, think about what you are thinking about! When we are aware of any consistent pattern of negative or defeating thoughts we may have about ourselves, we need to refute those thoughts and replace them with more effective ones from God’s Word in order to manifest what the Word says we are.
This process of refuting and replacing any negative view of oneself with the positive perspective of God’s Word is called renewing the mind, which brings real and tangible change. The renewed mind is the key to tapping into the power from God’s Word for changing anything about us that will help us to reach our God-given potential.
Romans 12:2:
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
The Greek word for “be transformed” is metamorphoō, which literally means to be changed into another form, be transfigured. This change, or transformation, takes place as we consistently and purposefully renew our minds to the truth of God’s Word. Another word for “renewing” is “renovating.” When you renew, or renovate, you replace the old with the new. If you have ever made renovations to a house, you know it involves a process of time with work involved, but the end result is well worth the effort put forth to change from the old to the new….
This is an excerpt from the September/October 2013 issue of The Way Magazine.
Copyright© 2013 by The Way International. All rights reserved.
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