God, help me to get my eyes off of myself and on the
cross.
What does that even
mean?
It means to trust that Jesus
died for me. While I was a sinner, he died. I did nothing to earn or deserve
it. Nor can I do anything to earn
or deserve his grace and mercy and love today. I am free.
The
cross summed up in one word is freedom.
It was because of love that God sent his only son to die. But to me,
freedom is the manifestation of that love in my life: Freedom from sin and its
consequences. Freedom from my own
negative thoughts. Freedom to be
who God created me to be. Freedom
from condemnation when I fall short, which I always will. Not a picture perfect model. Not a perfect clean house. Not a perfect mom or wife. My kid may throw fits, I may overreact with my husband, and I
may berate myself in my thoughts.
None of that matters because it doesn’t really matter when compared to
the infinite value of knowing Jesus.
He offers me freedom from those things so that I can enjoy my life.
Life may be messy, but I am not a mess.
Jesus is bigger than your current
reality.
I’m going to say that again:
Jesus is bigger than your current reality.
All of those things that we hate in our lives and about
ourselves fade away. Jesus and the
cross eclipse them so they can not be seen when you take your eyes off of
yourself and look to the cross. They
may never go away while we are on this earth because we live in a fallen world,
in broken bodies, but one thing that is true is that the imperfect will fade
away when the Perfect comes. Jesus
is perfect.
So stop trying to be
perfect. Stop beating yourself up
for not being perfect. Stop
analyzing everything. Stop seeing
yourself from other’s judging eyes and start seeing yourself as God sees
you. When you look in a broken
mirror the image reflected back is broken as well. Stop looking in a broken mirror to tell you who you
are. Start looking to God who is
the perfect reflection to tell you who you are. You are not who you currently are. Let that sink in. You are not who you currently are. So stop looking at yourself and start looking to the cross.
Christ arrives right
on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready.
He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and
rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so
weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying
for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble
could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us
by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to
him (Romans 5:6-8 MSG).
We do this by keeping
our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because
of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he
is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility
he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up (Hebrews
12:2-3 NLT).
So Christ has truly
set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in
slavery to the law (Gal. 5:1 NLT).
For God so loved the
world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 NIV).
But when completeness
comes, what is in part disappears… now we see only a reflection as in a mirror;
then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully,
even as I am fully known (1 Corinthians 13:10,12 NIV).
For everyone has
sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard (Romans 3:23 NLT).
Yes, furthermore, I
count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege
(the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and
intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding
Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider
it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain)
Christ (the Anointed One) (Philippians 3:8 AMP).
