Stepping Stones: How Much Do You Resemble Your Father?

Transformational Thought

In every child there is evidence of the parents’ contributions to the child’s makeup. They have their father’s eyes or their mother’s nose. Whose intelligence or stubbornness they have is often up for debate! What we often forget is that we, too, bear an image, an imprint of our designer – our Father’s image and likeness.

God is not like us, yet He designed us to understand who He is, so that we can be in a wondrous relationship with Him. For this reason, He gives us a likeness or analogy of His infinite and perfect attributes and character. For example, in a limited way we understand His greatness, power, knowledge, authority, creativity, sacrifice, love, and other attributes. He gives us a sense of time and eternity. He imprints us with an ability to grasp right and wrong … good, better, and best.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are attributes and characteristics that we find in God. This means that every encouragement to obey God is not just a rule, law, or helpful hint about life. Yes, it’s those, but it is also so much more. It’s a call to be what we were ultimately made to be. Becoming holy isn’t so much about “being good” as it is about “being human”… not the human of this world, but instead, the human God created us to become, through the blood of Jesus and the power and leading of the Holy Spirit.

When we try to do life our own way, according to our own instruction manual, we get so frustrated, because we aren’t being used for the purpose for which we were designed. It’s like using a paintbrush to change a diaper, or a hammer to eat dinner. When something is serving its designer’s intent, then effectiveness, impact, peace, and fulfillment are plentiful.

Today, whatever your situation is, look at the Scriptures to consider the Designer’s intent for your life. Know that He really is calling you to “be all that you can be.” Write down what you need to believe differently about God or yourself so you can become all that He designed you to be. Write down what stops you from actually believing it. Usually, a distortion about God or our self is what interferes with our believing. So start to unpack the lie you believe that holds you back from walking into the part God has written for you! WITHIN REACH helps you identify and overcome those obstacles.

Prayer
Dear Father, Teach us to know that You have designed us for better things. Teach us to understand that obedience to You is not burdensome, but that obedience is a return to our original glorious design. By the power of your Spirit, make us to be more and more the image of Christ, who bears Your image perfectly and fully. Help me to get out of Your way and understand better my role in Your work of growing me. These things we ask boldly, through the love and work of Christ Jesus for us, and all God’s children say, AMEN!

The Truth
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:26-27

But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:15-18