You Are What You
Have Been Becoming
By Carolyn
Hulliberger
“Don’t be misled:
No one makes a fool of God.
What a person
plants, he will harvest.”
Galatians 6:7 (The
Message)
If
you had a crystal ball and could see the future, how do you imagine your life
in…
10
years?
25
years?
50
years?
The
funny thing about this exercise is that if I reverse it and go back in my head
to the person I was 10 or 25 years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to see my
life exactly as it is now. But the decisions I made in those years have
absolutely impacted my reality today. You see, our future eventually becomes
our present. So often, we are lulled into complacency, thinking we have plenty
of time to work on that future “me.” In actuality, the only day any of us is
guaranteed is the day we are presently in.
Choices
matter. The media we watch, how we treat our bodies, the friends we have, are
all important. Perhaps you’re like me: All too often, my choices today don’t
necessarily reflect the person I would like to think I’m working to become,
especially in my relationship with Jesus. Because He is not physically next to
me demanding my time, it can be easy to choose checking email or catching up on
Facebook over spending time in my Bible with Him, developing my prayer relationship
with Him, or even writing this devotional.
I
read a quote recently: “You are what you have been becoming.” It made me think
about who I want to be, and to look for role models in those areas. For
instance, my grandma was the definition of a “prayer warrior.” I find myself
often thinking of her when I pray these days. I have other friends who have exceptional
hearts of compassion. They are influencing me, as well. It can help to find a
“Jesus with skin on,” a person who is demonstrating how to live out an aspect
of the Christ-following life, to have as a mentor.
So,
back to the original question with a twist…how will Jesus be demonstrated in
your life in 10 years? 25? And what can you do today to start to get there?
GOING DEEPER:
1.
Ask the Lord to show you how you can be involved in another’s life as a role
model or mentor.
FURTHER READING:
Along
with caring for her husband and two children, Carolyn works as an insurance
representative, serves in Oakwood
Church’s Student
Ministries with an awesome group of junior high girls, and is the treasurer for
Women’s Ministries.
