One of the best freedoms Jesus gives us is to be free to be exactly who he created us to be. This is a lesson I have been learning over the past several years. It’s for this reason my motto for this blog is “Seeing yourself through the eyes of Jesus.” It is my desire that every Christian sees themself like Jesus sees them. More than that, I desire each Christian to behave just like the person Jesus sees. 

Story Time

About eight years ago I started praying that my husband would become the man Jesus created him to be. I then expanded that prayer to my children, myself, and our family as a whole. God has been answering this prayer over the past several years. The results of these prayers are encouraging, exciting, and freeing! 

Brett has stepped into his role of a prayer warrior. It began about 4 years ago when a friend asked if he would want to meet up on Saturday mornings to pray. Brett agreed, and since then the Lord has grown him into a man who sees amazing things when he is praying. During prayer Holy Spirit will often show him what and how to pray for people. His confidence in praying has grown exponentially. He has learned to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit in a much clearer way. Brett is now able to recognize when the voice he hears is his or the Holy Spirit’s because he spends so much time praying. 

My prayer for him is that he will continue to grow in prayer and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit. I want him to be more like the man Jesus created each day for the rest of his life. 

Be Transformed

When we surrender our lives to Jesus, he gives us the freedom to discover who we are authentically. He does this by changing the way we see ourselves. However, we must change the way we think of ourselves before we can change the way we see ourselves. When we change the way we think about ourselves, we start living out Romans 12:2 (ESV), “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (emphasis added)

By transforming our minds we are able to think about, not just ourselves, but everyone around us with the mind of Christ. We no longer will have a desire to be a people pleaser because our only desire will be to be a Jesus pleaser. You will find yourself more concerned with being your authentic self. You will not worry as much about what others think about you. “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭1:10‬ ‭(ESV) 

Results of Transformed Thinking

I have found this to be true in my own life. Where I once would strive to conform to the person others wanted me to be, I now strive to be who God wants me to be. I have transformed my thinking to be more like Jesus in this way. When I am behaving like the real Cherise, I tend to not care if others disapprove. I only care if Jesus approves. Of course, I still struggle from time to time to be the old people pleaser. As I continue to practice being a Jesus pleaser over a people pleaser, I find the struggle to be that old, fake person less comfortable. 

Being Guided By Holy Spirit

There was a situation a few years ago where I failed to do the actions a friend wanted me to do. When she called me out on the subject I asked the Lord what to do. It was never my intention to make this friend feel the way she did. I also recognized that I needed to tread carefully. If I was too forceful or not forceful enough, I would push this friend away forever. I decided to trust God’s leading, and I started to only send out messages the Holy Spirit gave me to send her. My desire was to be sensitive to her and her feelings, but to also be obedient to the Holy Spirit. 

I know Holy Spirit knows exactly what each of us needs at any given time. I had to let go of the feeling of doing all I could do in my own strength to make her happy. Instead, I concentrated on listening to Holy Spirit and sent what he said to send. It was also during this time I was learning to live out the verse from Proverbs 29:25 (ESV), “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” 

I couldn’t allow my fear of letting down a friend trump my fear of letting Jesus down by working in my own strength to make her feel valued. Did it work? I honestly don’t know. Over time I have lost contact with her because of life circumstances. We now run in different circles and just don’t see or talk much any longer. Life happened! I can look back with confidence knowing I listened to Holy Spirit and sent exactly what he told me to send. I leave the results up to him. 

The Real You

Who are you when you are being the woman or man God created you to be? Who is the family God created you to be? I encourage you to ask God to show you who he created you to be. He formed you to be the best version of you possible. Unfortunately sin, circumstances, and even other people mold us to be someone we were never designed to be. Jesus wants you and me to be continually laying down our inauthentic self and become the person he sees when he looks at us. 

“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) (emphasis added)

What’s Next

Let’s all seek the Holy Spirit everyday, knowing when we surrender our false self to him, he will transform us from one to be more and more like him. This means Jesus is chipping away at the parts of Cherise which are not a representation of Jesus. Rather they are a representation of the old, dead Cherise who doesn’t even exist any longer. Each time a part of the old Cherise is taken away and replaced with the Cherise who represents Jesus, I am being transformed one more degree into the glory of the authentic Cherise. 

Although growing into our authentic self may be painful at times, it will always be worth it. It has been painful to let go of my false identity at times. Doing so has sometimes turned close friends away from me, and even caused some to question who I really am. However, now that I am on the other side of that forming, I am so happy to be more like the real me. Do I still have growing to do? Absolutely! This is why I continue to pray that God will chip away at the parts of me that don’t represent him. My desire is to have nothing left of Cherise because my whole self – physically, mentally, and emotionally – have been taken away and replaced with the mind and body of Jesus. This is a lifelong journey. 

Will you surrender any false identity to Jesus and ask him to give you a view of who he sees? I sure hope so!