4:222 – Look At Your Whole Body of Work

#faithbites #faithjourney whole

Setting

1,317. That is how many #faithbites I have written. 1,317 that is a lot of days and goes back to January 1, 2018. Why do I know this? Well, I was searching through old posts to see if I had written one on a specific topic. While I was doing the deep dive, I saw so many topics that I had forgotten about. When I scanned through some of them, I realized that #faithbties is quite a body of work. It is something I can be proud of.

We often look at one milestone, one accomplishment, or one failure, and see that as the defining point of our lives. The truth is, we are more than the sum of our parts. Just like the Bible, where you need to read the whole story, is more than just one verse.

God made us multifaceted as he is multifaceted. Don’t limit yourself to one way to see yourself. Look at everything you’ve done to grow.

Today’s Questions. How do you define yourself? Do you have a specific metric that you measure your successes against? What about your failures? Have you stepped back to see how far you’ve grown?

Scripture

• Ecclesiastes 4:12 – Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
• Proverbs 4:7– I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
• Philippians 3:12-14 – Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Reflection

Sometimes our Bible verses are very direct and clear on what we are to do and how it relates to the lesson of the day. Other times, like today, they are vaguer and we have to work for it. In Ecclesiastes, we see that a three-strand cord is stronger than doing it alone. For us, those cords represent everything we are. It’s the accumulation of all of our successes, failures, and experiences in life. We aren’t who we are without our whole body of experiences.

In both Proverbs and Philippians, we have the concept of growth. Instruction in the faith, growth as a person, and our path towards emulating Christ. Guess what? We will fall down but not fail. If we only look at our failures, we get a distorted picture of who we are. Likewise, if we only look at our successes, we are missing opportunities to grow. What we need to do, is look at everything, as without our experiences, we are not who we are, and are incapable of doing everything God wants us to do.

As We close, remember that God made us multifaceted as he is multifaceted. Don’t limit yourself to one way to see yourself. Look at everything you’ve done to grow.

Prayer

Father God, you made us full, complete, and whole people. Help us to not focus too much on our failures or our successes. Let us look at the sum of our work so we know where we can improve. Just like we don’t pick and choose from the Bible, we shouldn’t in our lives. We pray for the strength to fully embrace who we are. In your name, Amen.