Hello beloved child of God, I hope you’re fine by God’s grace.
Did you do your exercise yesterday on the origins of your problematic life-lenses? I did mine. It was really interesting. I noticed that a good number of my problematic life-lenses didn’t come at all from how my parents dealt with me but how my “friends” , classmates and teachers treated me.
It was really a good exercise.
Anyhow, for the past days we talked about life-lenses generally speaking but we didn’t talk about how to change them.
Now that we know that we have some perceptions of life which aren’t correct and which are repeatedly causing problems to us, I believe we want to change that right? To be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Today we’ll look at the first method on how to change life-lenses.
This method is easy. It’s all about making a gap between before and now, a distinction between childhood and now.
Let me explain.
The life-lenses you picked from childhood or from specific moments in your life, helped you as defense/survival mechanisms, but now you don’t need them anymore so you have to make a distinction between then and now.
We’ll use an example to illustrate this.
Examples: Then and Now
The example is that of Stella. She has the Perfectionistic life-lens. She developed this lens because she grew up in a Perfectionistic family. Her parents always required straight A’s from her, if she had anything less than that, she was compared to other children and looked down upon. All her siblings were performing better than her, not just at school but in everything else (house chores, music, swimming). Every mistake she made ended up in her being punished. As a means of survival she developed the habit of being Perfectionistic. This helped her in childhood to avoid being punished but now it’s extremely hard for her. She’s carried this lens into her relationship with God and she’s unable to believe anytime she messed up that He forgives her, that He still loves her and still wants her. She develops extreme anxiety and depression everytime she fails. The life-lens which served as a protective measure for her in the past is now her worst enemy.
Every time she fails, it triggers those negative feelings from childhood. She makes a then and now table.
| Life-lens | Childhood image(s) | Current trigger(s) |
| Perfectionistic:
I must do everything perfectly and if I don’t it’s awful |
My father was never satisfied with anything but straight A’s. Even when I got them he was never impressed. | I can’t stand being evaluated at work. I lose sleep for days. Even a single rating, just one below “outstanding” sends me into depression. When I lost my job one year ago, I felt so bad, I thought I had failed not only my parents but God. |
| In my church and even at home adults always talked extremely judgementally about other peoples’ sins. They didn’t just outline the fact that it was a sin, they condemned them and said hateful comments about them, saying they were unworthy and fake Christians. | Every time I fail I judge myself the same way. I condemn myself, I can hear their voices tell me that I’m unworthy and that I’m a fake Christian. | |
| Every time I did something wrong but apologized to my parents, they were still angry with me, punished me, and were angry with me for a very long time. | Today every time I do something wrong, even though I confess it to God, I have this fear that He will punish me and recall to mind my sin in the future, and that He is still angry with me. |
When Stella fills this table, she has to keep telling herself that her feelings and reactions today have more to do with yesterday than with her current reality.
She has to notice that she’s carrying her perspective from childhood into adulthood.
Also, she has to notice that her perspective about God is flawed.
God said that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Also, God told us He would never recall to mind our sins.
1 John 1:9 NIV
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Hebrews 8:12 NIV
For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Isaiah 53:5 NIV
But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.
Jesus Christ already bore the punishment for our sins. Stella needs to realise that Jesus Christ already bore the punishment for her sins, and that she doesn’t have to live in fear that God will send her to hell due to a mistake she made. If she confesses her sins, she is forgiven, and there’s no Condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1 NIV
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
Exercise: Then and Now
It’s now your turn to make a then and now table for each of your problematic life-lenses and to reflect on it and to renew your mind with God’s Word.
Realize that what happened to you in the past is what happened to you in the past, you don’t have to keep those life-lenses, even when they are triggered you can look up to God’s Word.
Since it’s all about renewing your mind, you’ll have to do this all the time, till it becomes natural. It’s not a “one-time exercise” which will cure you and help you get rid of your problematic life-lenses. This is something you have to do constantly till those problematic life-lenses leave you and you realize that you naturally see your life according to God’s Word.
Prayer
Father Lord God Almighty, help me to see You as You really are, to see myself as You see me, and to see my life through the lens of Your Word, in Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.
It’s Now Your Turn
Share about a Problematic life-lens and its impact on you right now.
What does it look like to renew your mind with God’s Word?
Don’t forget to share this blog post on your social media accounts and to invite your friends and family members to join us as we’re waging war against depression. You may save a life by sharing.
If you’ve not done it yet, subscribe to my Newsletter so as not to miss any post on depression and also, make sure to invite anyone whom you know is suffering from depression.
Click here to subscribe to my Newsletter.
Also, please consider sharing this blog post on all your social media accounts.
Invitation
Click here if you’re looking for a church. I recommend Elevation Church to you. A wonderful Christ-centered Church in which you aren’t limited by your location and in which you can see what God can do through you.
If you’ve enjoyed reading this blog post please subscribe to my Newsletter so as not to miss any new post.
Also, please consider sharing this blog post on all your social media accounts.
God bless you
Victoria Eyog
0 Comments