Change Your Image

    

Change Your Image 

Romans 8:24-25 For by hope we are saved; but hope which is clearly seen is no longer hope.  Who hopes for what he clearly sees? But if we hope for something that we do not see, we then patiently wait for it.

• What is the image you carry of yourself?
• Do you see yourself as healthy? Overweight?  Wealthy?  Broke? 
• Are you where you thought you would be at this stage of your life?
• Do you see the person you dreamed you would be as a youth?

Hard questions no doubt, but ones we need to be asking ourselves regularly.  We only get one shot at life.   This is not a dress rehearsal, so if things are not as they should be, then another all-important question we need to ask ourselves is this, What needs to change?

If life as you now know it is not what you ordered, change the order – change the image.

According to scripture, hope is actually looking at something you cannot see.  But that’s crazy!  How can one look at something he cannot see?  By looking with the eyes of his or her spirit - God’s word is full of amazing promises – internalizing God’s word, reading and meditating on it until your inner eyes form the picture necessary to effect change.  Because what you see is what you get, what you see won’t change until your inner man sees the change.

Where there is a strong desire for something, and a corresponding expectation of obtaining it, which constitutes true hope - then we can wait for it with patience.  Where there is a strong desire without a corresponding expectation of obtaining it, there is impatience.

You see hope that is seen, that is, enjoyed, is no longer hope, it is fruition: and a man cannot hope for that which he has in his possession.

If the image you have had of yourself all your life is of a physically fat person, it will be very difficult if not impossible for you to lose weight. And your outer self will exactly match your inner picture.  

Or if the image you have of your life is one of just getting by, second hand or discount shopping, poverty or lack… guess what?  No abundance will appear in your life.  Again, your outer reality will line up perfectly with your inner reality.

So how do we change the image that has been so deeply buried within us over the years?

1-   Set aside some serious time for introspection and self-evaluation, perhaps with a very close friend or spouse who will help you.  You need some good input to offset the bad.  We are already too adept at bashing ourselves.  What we are looking for is hope, not utter despair.   Compare your inner images to what God says about you!

2-  Admit to yourself what the image is.  This could be the biggest and possibly most difficult step on the road to lasting change.  Identify what doesn’t line up with God’s word and ask Him to help you see yourself as He sees you – a miraculous work of divine creation, imbued with His likeness.  

3- Find scripture and positive, uplifting books, audios, and magazines that address these unhealthy images, and meditate on them daily.  You can’t change a very dark colored wall to a light color with only a single coat of paint!  In fact, the darker the color, the more coats of paint it will take to go light.  Plus the under coat will affect the lighter top coat.  You spent years getting where you are now, so don’t expect a “one coat” change!  The more you want or need to change, the more you will need to read, meditate on God’s word, and pray for divine aid.  Some of our issues are deep strongholds within us and will only be removed when there is a proper image to replace them.  The way you drive out the negative image is by developing its positive replacement.

4-   Finally… Commit to the process.  BELIEVE that the God in you can change the images inside you!  Speak His word and what it says about you into your spirit! His word, daily communion with Him, and prayer combined with worship and that positive self-talk, will move you from those feelings of despair to the hope that only comes from a life in Christ!  Create a blueprint of the image you desire yourself to be and develop your faith to build upon it!  

Romans 4: 17a …”the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that don’t exist into existence. ¹⁸ When it was beyond hope, he had faith in the hope that he would become the father of many nations, in keeping with the promise God spoke to him: That’s how many descendants you will have.^{[d] 19} Without losing faith, Abraham, who was nearly 100 years old, took into account his own body, which was as good as dead, and Sarah’s womb, which was dead. ²⁰ He didn’t hesitate with a lack of faith in God’s promise, but he grew strong in faith and gave glory to God. ²¹ He was fully convinced that God was able to do what he promised.” (CEB)