Telling Our Own Story

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 1 Peter 3:3-4
   
One of my colleagues has mastered the skill of telling their own story.  Here is how it works.  A situation will occur where a peer asks questions about a situation.  The reality is the peer just wants information to help solve a problem.  However, my colleague will tell their own story saying, “They are questioning my judgment!”  I have to laugh about it because I can clearly see what is happening, and then subtly inform my colleague of what the reality is.  The truth of the matter is we all fall prey to this.  We might see someone homeless, and ‘tell our own story’ that they must be lazy.  Or we see a child running wild in a store with their mom chasing them, and then we ‘tell our own story’ that they are not a very good parent.  It raises the question that as a Christian what is the true story about us and how does God see us?

God knows us inside and out, and focuses on the potential of what we can be.  There are numerous stories in the Bible that show how God uses people for His will to be done.  In many cases, these were not perfect people, and like us, they had sinned before God.  However, God saw the ‘inner self’ of those individuals, and used them where they were rewarded for making the choice to follow God.  We often gravitate to the ugly stuff of other people because it sounds more interesting (ex. We love to tear down our heroes after building them up).  However, if we were to use our God centered lens, we’d see the potential, beauty, and positive aspects of people.  That is at the center of a Christian’s heart.

Seeing things through God’s eyes always provides the right story.  The Pharisees had ‘told their own story’ that Jesus was blasphemous and disobeyed God’s laws.  The reality was Jesus is the Son of God who sacrificed His life so that we would not suffer for our sins.  When you begin to assess another’s situation or motive, remember to ask yourself like those bumper stickers would ask, “What would Jesus do?”  How can you see others as God sees them?  Do you tell your own story to justify wrongdoing before God?  My prayer is that we see the world as God’s sees it and not tell our own story. Amen.