I am finding myself in a new place in life. I can’t really define it for you yet – that will just have to come over time. Suffice it to say that I am going through a growth process in several areas of my life – both personal and professional. It is a sometimes tedious, sometimes exciting process.
Romans 12:2 (NLT) says: “Don’t copy the behavior of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” The Bible reveals to us in this verse that God brings transformation to our lives by working on our mind. There must be a change in the way we think about God, about ourselves, and about our situation. We all have embedded viewpoints that are unexamined. Things happen to us and we make a judgement about ourselves, or about a particular type of person, or a particular situation. This is especially true when it comes to victims of abuse, but it is still true even in those of us that had a more “normal” upbringing.
Let me explain further. Maybe you are trying to lose weight, but you can’t get past the opinion you have of yourself as someone who will “always be this way.” Maybe you want to get into a career that will allow you to earn more money, but you can’t see yourself as ever being successful. Or perhaps you have decided that you will always be single because “there’s just no good ones left out there.” Whatever judgment you have made, it will invariably lead to self-sabotage. Whether you consciously do it or not, your views and opinions of yourself, others, and especially God, will have a dramatic effect on the decisions you make and how you relate to other people.
This is one reason why having a coach is so helpful. A good coach will help you gain fresh perspective in your life. He or she will listen to you share your dreams and goals and work with you to craft a plan to reach them. In the process, the coach can help you deal with those “dreambusters” that are stopping you from realizing the success God has designed you to have. And I recommend a Christian coach, who will center your discussions around God’s truth.
I leave you with this thought. Whatever God says is truth. It doesn’t matter if you accept it or apply it. It is still truth. If God says the sky is yellow, it doesn’t matter how blue it looks – it is yellow. That is because God is the definition of truth. And He has given us His word (the Bible) to reveal the truth. When your thoughts run counter to God’s thoughts – you’re wrong. Allow God’s word to renew your mind and teach you what you should think about Him, about others….and about yourself.
Once you learn it….live it!
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Ben,
I am so honored to be the FIRST to comment on this blog. I am impressed with what you wrote and with the style with which you wrote it. And I agree with it wholeheartedly.
Why don’t you consider polishing it just a bit (with publication in mind) and send it to me as an Evangel submission?
It is refreshing to see a young leader such as yourself projecting something other than an emergent, postmodern hypothesis.
Thanks also for visiting my mom the other day. It did her a world of good. Although she doesn’t get to go much anymore at age 87, she loves her church and pastor.
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Interesting thoughts…
I’d like a coach that is available 24 hours and can spoon feed me the Word, comfort with cookies and hugs and correct with gentle thuds to the back of my head as neeeded. Ok, so I know that is not a possibilty, but it would be nice. I feel like the problems you listed above are the majority of my struggles. Although they seem blunt and simple, they continue to trip me up even after I am made aware of them. I know that as long as I hold on and with the love and support of the most amazing church family in the world, I will make it. Thank you Pastor!
Kimmy,
Truth is a good coach would do none of those things. That is because leaders (meaning you) accept responsibility for themselves. That means you aren’t going to be “spoon-fed” anything. A coach will only help you decide what is on God’s agenda for your life and provide onging support, encouragement, and accountability. It has always been and will always be up to you to accept God’s word and live it out obediently.
This was a timely post. I find myself at a place where I am truly attempting to look at things from the perspective of what God has to say about them. Ultimately I know I am in error if my perception or judgment does not line up with what God has to say. I have become aware of deep internal judgements that are not correct. This is a period of deep challenging and self evaluation. I love Gods gentle changing and molding,blogs such as this simply support my resolve to become more Christ like on every level.
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