Earl Nightingale said, “The strangest secret in the world is that we become what we think about the most.” Our future is determined by what we have chosen to behold within our minds. As soon as a person is born into this world, they immediately become burdened by the never-ending nagging thoughts of having to perform good enough to feel right. As they get older, they become increasingly aware of all righteous requirements and their pitiful lack of fulfilling them. Sadly, some ladies are married to husbands who are like the law. They are meticulously accurate and perfectly neat, and they expect their wives to live up to their unrealistic standards while not being willing to lift a single finger to help. In the same way, the law of God demanded ultimate perfection while giving us no solution to live it. Look at how apostle Paul explains this concept.

Gal 3:10-11 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly, no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.

The law was, and still is, a curse to those who try to gain right standing with God by obeying it. Trying to be good enough to deserve God promotes a life of failure. When Jesus came, he released a law with a much higher standard, a law far beyond external works. His law dealt with the very motives of the heart. Contrary to the law of Moses that gave no help to fulfilling its requirements, Jesus not only gave us the higher law of love but is the one who carries out the perfection of that law within us!

2 Corinthians 3:15-18 Even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (NIV)

Apostle Paul told the Philippian church, “Being confident of this that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.” Philippians 1:6 Who is doing the work? It is not you who will fulfill the righteous requirements of the new law of love, but it will be God in you! I love what Paul later said to the Philippian church.

Philippians 2:13 For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Only when we behold or constantly look at God, do we experience His life of righteousness and true fulfillment! Our focus is no longer on the law and trying to fulfill it but instead on Christ. As we behold him, our life is transformed by his love, and His perfection naturally begins to flow through us. Because of the blood of Jesus, God has already declared us perfect in his sight. The more we meditate on that truth, the more our actions line up with that truth.

Be sure of this; the most significant changes you will experience in your life will seem effortless when they happen because it will not be you doing the work but rather Christ in you! Wow! The authentic life of Christianity is fully realized only by those whose thoughts are constantly on what God has declared to be true. Oh yes! It is so essential to recognize that your dominant thoughts determine where your life is heading.

What are you constantly looking at within your mind? Is what God has declared about you? My prayer for you today is that your life will continuously increase because you understand that…

AS YOU BEHOLD, YOU WILL BECOME