Reformation Report

Self Image

What mental picture do you have of yourself? What do you believe people think about you? If you have never asked yourself that question, now would be as good a time as any. The really funny thing is that the people around you are thinking the same thing, they are wondering what you think about them. We need to get to a position where we don’t care about what other people think about us, because all we care about is what God thinks about us.

 

Whatever picture we have of ourselves is a result of accumulated valid or invalid criticisms and what we believe and have allowed ourselves to believe. Our self-image is normally the accumulation of all the attitudes and opinions we have about ourselves.

 

Whatever description you come up with of yourself, make sure you evaluate it, determine the source of that perception. Because what you believe about yourself determines who you are and who you will continue to be. The amazing thing is that you can begin visualising a better you – a you that can become what you are willing to visualize, affirm and emotionally buy into. With Gods help you can change your self-image to a much more positive image in your own mind. Let’s begin today!

 

Self Efficacy

We are described as being “made in the image of God” and told in the bible,  “greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world”.  As we believe these truths, and accept the fact that we are capable of performing in an excellent and professional manner to attain the goals we set in life our lives, our lives begin to take on new meaning. Believing that we have capabilities to execute the courses and actions required to manage prospective situations is part of what we call self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is not an event; rather it’s a process. Self-efficacy is believing that God has given us the power to determine the course of our dreams.

 

Self-efficacy is the power to dream; to imagine a certain thing and the ability to create that thing, and to bring it into reality. God saw the universe, as he wanted it, spoke it into being and it was. That same power resides in you and only waits for you to unlock it’s potential and use it. Self-efficacy is your ability to make things happen. God gave you that ability so that you can build your reality around you.

 

Determine your own dreams; build a healthy efficacy because if you let someone else build your world, they will always build it too small. We should be wary of other peoples’ opinions in our lives because when we accept what people say and begin to believe it, we are stuck with it and we cannot see ourselves for who we are– or the way God sees us.

Worry

Worry affects most people in one way or another, it knows no boundaries; it plagues both young and old, rich and poor, people of all races, cultures and language groups. I’ll highlight a few common sources of worry and look at how Jesus would have us deal with this terror called worry.

 

The Global economic crisis has left few untouched, shaking the bedrock of many people’s security in life, their financial reserves. Climate change, food shortages and the threat of unexpected terrorist attacks also produce an underlying  state of anxiety in many people worldwide.  Then for those in less stable countries, wars, natural disasters, famine and disease shake their entire worlds.

 

Worldwide the less fortunate worry about not having enough money and the privileged fret about the security of all that they own. Singles worry about getting married, married people wonder why they got married in the first place! The grass looks greener on the other side of the hedge, but it still needs mowing, and that takes time, costs resources and holds no glamour. We worry about how to get what we don’t have, and how to maintain what we do have.

 

It has been said, worry can’t change the past, but it will ruin the present and destroy your future. The only place it will get you to ahead of time, is the cemetery! I’ve also heard worry described as your personal irritation with God, because you cannot control everything, and do not have enough trust in Him to believe that He will do what his word says He will do.

 

Jesus recognized the hold worry had on people and asked, “Who of you by worry can add one cubit (18 inches) to your height, or an hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27) While reminding his disciples of how futile worry is, he likened them to the sparrows who never worry but God gives them food! Worry is powerless to change anything about our lives, except our health status, and that for the negative!

 

Worry has actually been scientifically proven to be harmful! Worry increases our stress levels, which in turn produces high blood pressure, and adversely affects the status of our immune systems. We literally can cause our own ill health because of worry. Philippians chapter 4, verse 6 Paul tells us, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the Peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

God has not given us a spirit of fear but of love power and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). And in Proverbs we read the antidote to worry, which is laughter.  Laughter does GOOD like a medicine, whereas worry dries up the bones (Proverbs 17:22). We have to come to the point where we realise that, “I and I alone am responsible for the thoughts I think, for the emotional attitudes that rule my life and my reactions to the situations around me." Once we have accepted this truth, we can move forward, because we understand that changing our own lives is in our control. I also cannot allow anyone or anything to have power over me to make me worry. I am in the hand of God, I need to keep the picture straight.

Guard your Conscience

“All things are permissible but not all things are beneficial,..” (1 Corinthians 10:23)

Our conscience is constantly at risk of assimilating things that may not necessarily be beneficial to us. We are constantly being influenced by friends, family, television, newspapers, magazines, music and the internet, all of which constantly vie for our attention and try to influence our perceptions. While it is permissible to watch television or surf the internet for hours, not all that we see, read, and assimilate there is beneficial to us.

Romans 12 says ‘be transformed by the renewing of YOUR MIND that YOU may prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God’.

In order to renew our minds we need to ensure that we are not assimilating into our conscience, things that could negatively influence our ability to distinguish between things that are beneficial to us and things that can harm us.  These things cloud our ability to see the truth, as well as impairing our clarity of moral and spiritual vision, so leading us into deception.

We can protect our minds by raising our awareness, and keeping our thoughts, sensations, perceptions, moods, emotions and dreams in check. Let’s make it a habit to always probe ourselves with this question “Is this consistent with what I believe?” “What am I assimilating into my subconscious mind?” We all need to be aware of what or who influences us, because what influences us will determine who we become. Remember, “we become what we behold”.