Christian Leadership Alliance
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Journey to Wholeness
What you believe about God is the key.| Outcomes, Summer 2009
The glass shattered on my kitchen floor. I immediately threw the larges pieces away, but hundreds of tiny shards glistened in the light. After a thorough sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping, Voila! Like new. Except for the splinters that turned up in the oddest places—for days!
The glass reminded me of life, sometimes my own life. Life can overtake me, and I can fall apart. Does that happen to you? I become divided in my thoughts, and almost immediately my behavior speaks of my dilemma. I spend precious time trying to put myself back together.
I was in church before I was born. By the time I was five, I had learned all the books of the Bible and had become a champion in "sword drills." I asked Jesus into my heart when I was eight, and I remember someone saying something about "now being whole." I really had no idea what that meant.
Now, years later, under the pressure of life's demands, I desperately want to be whole. I want to be remade in the image of Jesus—not just in theory but also in experience. I want the peace of God to permeate my life, to protect my integrity through a complete dependence on his righteousness. I have begun to realize the powerful truth of A. W. Tozer's simple statement: "What we believe about God is the most important thing about us."
What we believe about God shapes who we are.
Think about it. Everything we believe about ourselves—our very essence—is significant, but it is not as important as what we believe about God. Our beliefs about God define everything else in our lives. For example, does God measure success in terms of recognition and money? How does he view the demands of work? Does he see people primarily as means to an end, objects to complete work? Does he put the mission ahead of people, or does he seem to think that people are the mission?
What we believe about God shapes our thinking.
My thinking is transformed when I study the Scriptures more intently and with a new focus. Believing the truth about God, revealed in his Word, and integrating those truths into everything in my life is the journey to wholeness. When I discover I have a gap in what I know and what I do, I must quickly remind myself of what I know about God.
The same Scriptures I read and memorized as a child have new meaning. Consider Romans 12:2: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." I can be transformed (made whole) by changing my thinking.
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