The Pictures We Draw
How we see God and ourselves
Every person goes through life continually drawing and redrawing two foundational pictures that shape who we are, what we believe, and how we live. No matter what our spiritual background is, we are constantly drawing these two pictures. It does not make any difference if we grew up in the church or had atheists as parents; we draw these pictures from infancy through right now. AND we continue to draw and refine them! We are in the process of refining our picture of God and our picture of ourselves. So let me ask you two foundational questions.
What is your picture of God?
A.W. Tozer, in his book Knowledge of the Holy, says, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
Even those who do not believe in God must think about him! Thinking that he does not exist means that he impacts those thoughts, and the picture becomes one of what he doesn’t look like. Each of us has developed a picture of God from a very early age. It may be a picture of non-existence, a picture of a mean and vindictive God, or a picture of a loving and caring God. So let me ask you another question. How has your picture of God changed throughout the years?
Those of us who are Christ Followers believe that we are created in God's image, as Genesis 1:26-27 states. Since we are made in God’s image, drawing a picture of him should not be too hard. But it is! WHY? God’s image within us was broken by the Fall, so we have a distorted image of God. However, Jesus came to earth to give us a picture of what being made in God’s image and, thus, being his image bearer should look like.
He is the image of the invisible God… For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him. (Colossians 1:15,19 CSB)
But we must realize that God is beyond comprehension! God is mystery! We will never have a complete and accurate picture of God on this earth! However, as we know more about God through his Word and the activity of Holy Spirit, our picture of him becomes more accurate.
The second foundational question that shapes our lives is…
What is your picture of yourself?
You are uniquely created in the image of God (imago dei). Yet, you are a sinner! But, if you are a Christ Follower, you are saved by grace. You are a saint set aside for God's glory. Yet, in the hardness, disappointments, and trials of life, we often see ourselves (paint pictures of ourselves) that are not the pictures that God would paint. When we have setbacks, failures, or disappoint others, we often feel like failures! We often feel unworthy! We often feel as if we have no purpose. So, we redraw the picture of ourselves into a picture that is not the picture that God would draw of us! The picture God wants us to draw of ourselves becomes more and more like a picture of Jesus!
As we continually redraw our pictures, it is good to have some frames to help us “hang” them and make more sense of them. Over the next several weeks, we will be looking at “Seven Spiritual Formation Frames.”
Living a Christian life is not adhering to a list of do’s and don’ts. It is not attempting to live a particular lifestyle. It is not believing in certain doctrines of faith. All these are the byproducts of living the Christian life. Living a Christian life is really about becoming more like Jesus.
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord - who is the Spirit - makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. (2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT)
As we become more and more like Jesus, we redraw our picture of God into a portrait of who he really is, and we redraw the picture of ourselves into a picture that looks more and more like Jesus. What does your picture of God look like right now? What does your picture of yourself look like? Are they acurate or like the mirrors in a carnival funhouse - distorted and unreal?