Stop Thinking Like a Caterpillar
Our identities are bound up in the story we tell ourselves.
Picture two butterflies sitting on a branch:
One butterfly says to another, “Yes, you’re a butterfly now. But you still think like a caterpillar.”
Sound familiar? Our identities are bound up in the story we tell ourselves.
We all share this problem:
When you say you are a “sinner” or “wretch,” because that’s how the Apostle Paul referred to himself, you end up thinking that’s the way you should think about yourself.
How we think determines how we behave and the words we use when we refer to our relationship with God through Christ.
Frankly, it’s confusing, which makes it difficult to move past who we used to be and to become the person Jesus calls us to be.
Why do people who have confessed Jesus as Lord, who believe in their hearts that God raised him from the dead, who accepted God’s gift of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus, and whom God considers redeemed, continue to refer to themselves as something they used to be?
If I didn’t know Jesus, and you tell me there’s a Savior who loves me unconditionally, why should I believe it? When you tell me he proved it by sacrificing himself so that I can be reconciled to the Creator, it assures me that the Creator thinks highly of me and wants me to know him.
When you are reconciled to God through Christ, you are redeemed but still have the capacity — and tendency — to sin. Focus on who you’re becoming and less on who you were.
We become what we think about.
—Earl Nightingale
Your Past, Present, and Future
In business consulting, we often talk about three states or conditions:
Past State
Present State
Future State
The three states are elements of a short story. When you follow Jesus, God reveals how you should think about yourself — not as a sinner —but as a member of God’s family.
Past State: “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.” (Ephesians 2:1)
Present State: God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.” (Ephesians 2:2)
Future State: “So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
The Bible paints a different picture of who God says you are and how you should think about yourself. Ephesians 2:10 says, “You are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Philippians 4:8 encourages us to “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
I am only writing to people who have trusted Jesus as their Savior: Stop thinking of yourself as a wretched sinner and start thinking of yourself as a saint whom God is transforming into the image, or identity, of His beloved son.
When you think of yourself in God’s terms, you’ll speak about yourself in God’s words as a beloved and cherished member of God’s new family.
I don’t know about you, but I would rather live with the promise of the future State instead of in the hopelessness of the past.
If you haven’t been reconciled to God through Jesus’s sacrifice, why not?
You only get one life, so why not live it well?
Essential: A 30-Day Devotional for Faith-Driven Professionals makes the perfect gift for people who love God, love people, and love to work.