Christian Living Stories: My World
I hate to admit it, but my world tends to revolve around ME and all things related to ME—my home, my family, my community, my city, my state, my country, my likes, my wants, my needs, my dreams, my passions, my opinions and my thoughts. I am the center of my world, and God loves ME!
Sometimes I forget that although God loves ME, he loves everyone else too. I may be the center of my world, but I am not the center of God’s world—and it’s his world that counts. So from time to time I have to do a reality check. My world should not revolve around me; it should revolve around God.
When God becomes the center of my world, my worldview or perspective changes. Exclusive concepts focusing on “me, myself, and I” are replaced with inclusive Trinitarian thinking, focusing on “we and us.” Neighbors and coworkers are not just acquaintances but children of our Father. A panhandler is not just a beggar but a brother or sister in a different place in life. A homeless person is not an outcast but someone God loves. God loves each of his children, not just me.
Am I jealous that God loves others as much as me? I shouldn’t be—not when I fully understand God’s capacity for love. God can love all of us and still have a special, intimate relationship with each one as an individual. That’s just how great he is!
When we realize how much God loves us and how great he is, we don’t just want him to be part of our world; we want him to be at its core and center. Apart from him we can do nothing (John 15:5). In him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). We want to stay connected through prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17). His thoughts are not our thoughts, so we try to align ourselves to his way of thinking (Isaiah 55:8). We accomplish this by internalizing and writing his words on our hearts (Proverbs 7:1-3). We meditate on Scripture and apply it to our lives (Psalm 119:15).
God knows everything and we don’t, so we want his will to supersede ours (Luke 22:42). He has only our best interests in mind, so we adjust to what God wants to do, not what we want to do. Our agendas decrease as his become more manifest. We focus on Christ because that’s how we survive. Remember the example of Peter? As long as he stayed focused on Christ, he walked on water. When his attention shifted off Christ, he began to sink (Matthew 14:30).
As our personal lives become more God-centered, we notice our perspectives slowly changing. We start seeing the world around us through God’s eyes instead of our own. We realize we were created by God and for him (Colossians 1:16), so we actually start thinking about God more than self.
I must admit, I still struggle with wanting my world to revolve around ME. However, in my heart I know it’s not about ME; it’s all about God!
Author: Barbara Dahlgren