Behold, and Become
Have you ever heard the saying, “You become what you behold”? Whatever you focus on begins to affect who you are and how you behave. Greed begins when we focus on material wealth. If all we view is violence, we will become more violent. When we look for offense in everything people say, we will begin to take offense at everything. In the same way, if we focus on things that are good, lovely, and positive then our minds will be filled with those things in such a way that our thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions will follow suit.
This isn’t just the power of positive thinking. It’s actually a Biblical principle. First of all we have 1 John 2:16, which warns believers of “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.” There’s a progression here that begins with the fallenness of humanity. Our fleshly desires have been turned against God and His ways by Sin. Then the power of beholding leads our eyes to desire things outside of ourselves that lead us further away from God. Finally, when we embrace the first two steps, our desire for the things of this world become so strong that pride sets up resistance to any other way of being.
In contrast, Philippians 4:8, tells us to focus our minds on “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy.” There is nothing that fits this description better than Jesus Christ himself. He is Truth. He is the very definition of noble. He is right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and the only One who is worthy of praise.
So, with many today who position themselves as the example of success or the model to be imitated, who are you looking at to shape your life? Athletes, actors, entertainer, even business and political leaders all fall short of the measure of Christ. So look to Jesus, in the study of the Word and prayer, and become like the One you behold.