What’s your perspective?
Colossians 1:28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.
Some insights from Rick Warren:
The Bible says that unbelievers have no spiritual perspective (1 Corinthians 2:14). Likewise a lack of perspective is a mark of spiritual immaturity (1 Corinthians 3:1-2, 13:11, 14:20). In contrast, having perspective is evidence of spiritual maturity. Hebrews 5:14 (NASB) says, “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”
There are many benefits of learning to see everything from God’s perspective:
Perspective causes us to love God more. The better we understand the nature and ways of God, the more we love him. Paul prayed “May you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is” (Ephesians 3:18 LB).
Perspective helps us resist temptation. When we look at a situation from God’s viewpoint, we realize the long-term consequences of sin are greater than any short-term pleasure sin might provide. Without perspective we follow our own natural inclinations. “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12 NIV).
Perspective helps us handle trials. When we have God’s perspective on life we realize that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28) and that “the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:3). Perspective was one of the reasons Jesus was able to endure the cross (Hebrews 12:2). He looked past the pain to the joy that was set before him.
Perspective protects us from error. If there was ever a time that Christians need to be grounded in the truth, it is today. Pluralism has created a very confused culture. The problem is not that our culture believes nothing but that it believes everything. Perspective is the antidote.
When believers, new and mature, are given both knowledge and perspective, the result is rock solid: “Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth” (Ephesians 4:14 LB).
I pray that I will grow to have a clear God perspective on things that I’m faced with in life. Amen!
Rhonda Gould Coaching & Consulting 