Word for the Week
Short reflections on Bible passages, with a frontline focus...
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As water reflects the face,
so one’s life reflects the heart.
Proverbs 27:19
When did you last look at your face in the mirror?
Chances are you were doing something practical. Checking for mascara smudges, rearranging your fringe, neatening your wayward beard. We all look at our reflections most days – but we don’t often reflect on what (or who) we see.
Maybe the same’s true when we look at our lives. We pay attention to what’s on the surface – our jobs, relationships, social status, hobbies – without necessarily stopping to ask what’s going on beneath.
But the author of Proverbs suggests there’s plenty to learn if we reflect more deeply, day by day, on the way we live our lives. Because they reflect our hearts: the driving seats of our character, attitudes, and desires. And the more we learn about our hearts, the better we’re able to spot where we need to grow – and collaborate with the Holy Spirit as he shapes us to be more like Jesus.
If we’re not careful, this sort of self-reflection can turn into self-absorption. But if we do it with a genuine desire to become more Christlike, it can make a huge difference – enabling us to put the theory of a fruitful life into practice in our daily contexts.
This month, we’re launching a major new group resource called Growing on the Frontline designed to help you do just that. It’s an invitation to walk with God through the opportunities and challenges of your everyday life, to notice what your responses tell you about your heart, and then work with God to grow in emotional and spiritual maturity. These aren’t always easy things to do. But they help us look at ourselves with sober judgement and anchor ourselves in God’s love – so we can bear good fruit for him, day by day.
This month, we’re going to walk through the four steps used in Growing on the Frontline. You’ll learn how to reflect on what’s happening around and within you, receive wisdom from the Bible, renew your perspective, and better respond to the opportunities around you.
If you have time, take a moment now to reflect more deeply on what’s going on under the surface in your life. Think about the last time you were on your frontline – somewhere you regularly spend time with people who may not follow Jesus. What opportunities did you have to bless others? How did you offer love – or withhold it? Why might that be?
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Charles Hippsley
Co-author of Growing on the Frontline
Join the conversation in the comments section below.
Charles – thank you for this – I really appreciate the way you have of taking one verse of a book of the Bible that is not so often read and produce such a thought provoking insight into living out faith in Christ in our everyday lives.
Thank you!
I think this invitation is so timely, not only for myself but to many who are frontlines and needing spiritual nourishment as well. When we are at work, work itself can consume us and we tend to forget our Why, our real Source, the Opportunity Giver who is God. Thank you.