Changing our Perspective

Ken Rice

Looking towards 2022 it can be tempting to make a list of all the things we messed up on last year and make a commitment to change our behavior in the coming year. However, I’m hearing a different message this year. I believe God is speaking this over our church. You aren’t the mistakes you’ve made. You aren’t the sum of the let downs you have caused people around you. You aren’t the labels that have been put on you. You aren’t your shortfalls or bad habits. Neither are you the lies the Enemy has tried to speak over you. You are who God says you are. Stop striving to earn his love and affection. You already have it.

  • You are a child of God. Galatians 3:26

  • You have been adopted into the family of God. Ephesians 1:5

  • You have been bought with a price. 1 Corinthians 6:20

  • You are more than a conqueror. Romans 8:37

  • You are a new creation in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17

  • You are the righteousness of Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:30

I’m so guilty of trying to control things around me, getting angry at situations and people, feeling prideful about accomplishments, not trusting that God will do what he said he would do, and then feeling guilty about all my actions. I think all our identity issues are fundamental misunderstandings of who God is. If we could really accept that God is Love, that He is for us and not against us, if we believed the scriptures to be true and that He will always take care of us, provide for us, and never run out of forgiveness for us, we could truly taste a life of freedom and joy. But instead of trusting God, I fall back into the habit of trying to control things and people around me.

When you stop to think about it, my control issues are a misunderstanding of God’s sovereignty, my anger issues are a misunderstanding of God’s mercy, my pride issues are a misunderstanding of God’s greatness, my trust issues are a misunderstanding of God’s goodness and faithfulness, and ultimately my guilty feelings are misunderstandings of God’s grace that has been given to me freely.

God doesn’t love us because of who we are or what we have or could do for Him. God loves us because of who He is. 

When we succeed, God says, “I love you.” When we fail, God says, “I love you.” When we have faith, God says, “I love you.” When we doubt, God says, “I love you.”

Love is His answer to everything. He is love and his love is not conditioned upon our performance. There is nothing you can do to make Him love you any more or any less than he does right now. God loves you perfectly and he will love you forever.

Take some time and steps to quiet your surroundings in order to quiet your thoughts. What lies have you believed about yourself that God needs to speak truth over? What thoughts need to be quieted in order to hear God’s voice? Now, what is God saying to you?

Rather than making 2022 the year you tried to changed your behavior, make it the year you began hearing God’s voice clearly and often.

Ken Rice