Define Yourself from God's Perspective

 My psychology professor assigned a paper consisting of three questions, “Who am I?” “Where am I going?” and “Why?”  Defining myself proved to be a formidable task. Ben Franklin gave this challenge: "Think of three things: where did you come from, what path are you on, and to whom will you give an account."

Ralph Waldo Emerson believed thinking deeply is life’s most demanding task. Mohandas Gandhi declared, “What occupies your mind defines your character. A man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks he becomes." Rene Descartes agreed: "I think, therefore I am.”

God's word commands us to love him with our entire mind. The Apostle Paul proposes this test: "Whatever is true and noble, right and pure, whatever is lovely and admirable, if anything is excellent and praiseworthy, think on these things.” This is how you train yourself to love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind.   

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Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored. But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him.

~Romans 8:8-9 The Message 

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Our Internal Gatekeeper

In professional communication systems, a gatekeeper is a person who receives messages and then passes them on to others or may prevent messages from reaching their destination. A gatekeeper can change a message to make it acceptable and compatible with other forms of communications.

The gatekeeper is responsible for interpreting incoming and outgoing messages to determine if they are acceptable. Everyone has been accused of not listening or just hearing parts of a message. When conflicts arise, some folks will say anything to win regardless of the harm it causes to their relationships.

In every possible circumstance God provides us with two special helps for utilizing our internal gatekeeper. One is the voice of conscience and the other is the work of the Holy Spirit. Each makes us aware of what is acceptable and what should be rejected. As we comply with these promptings, we are blessed and affirmed by the Lord Jesus Christ, who gives us confidence in our gatekeeper.  

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A [person’s] conscience is the Lord’s searchlight exposing his hidden motives.  

~Proverbs 20:27 The Living Bible

 

If we follow our desires, we cannot please God. You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God’s Spirit, who lives in you.

~Romans 8:8-9 Contemporary English Version

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