"Live In The Image Of God"

A college student who had always lived in the city was visiting a ranch in Arkansas. He was fascinated by all the animals. He had never seen so many before so it wasn¡¦t unusual when He blurted out, ¡§What an unusual looking cow. Why doesn¡¦t she have any horns?¡¨

The rancher explained, ¡§Well, some cows are born without horns and never have any. Others shed theirs, and some we dehorn. And some breeds aren¡¦t supposed to have any horns at all. But the reason this cow hasn¡¦t got any horns is because she ain¡¦t no cow--she¡¦s a horse.¡¨

I remember being a young boy, sitting around the dinner table. We were having a family talk about what we wanted to do when we grew up. We had just gotten back from Wal-mart, and I was so amazed at all the money in the cash register. When this topic of careers came up, I made it very clear that I wanted to work at Wal-Mart and be a cashier. My sister wanted to be a doctor or a pilot. While she had dreams of researching cancer drugs, helping those who medically couldn¡¦t help themselves, or flying the friendly skies ¡V I had the dream of saying, ¡§That¡¦s $10.98, thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart.¡¨ I am standing here this morning knowing that God is faithful ¡V (advance)

Psalm 37:4 ¡V Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. He changed my desires to the point that I see myself and my talents as unlimited not because I am wonderful ¡V believe me, I know I am not. My abilities are unlimited because of God working in my life, and my willingness to give those desires over to him.

Discussion:

If you could put yourself on a measuring scale ¡V how would you measure up? How would your talents measure up? How about your spiritual gifts? The correct view of self matters. The way we look at God, the way we see God has a lot to do with how we see ourselves. The Bible often calls Christians to have the correct view of other people. We see that in the life of Jesus ¡V he had the correct view of others. He didn¡¦t see people based on their sin, he saw people who were hurting because of their sin. This morning if we could look inward and see ourselves as God sees us, I believe we would grow. I believe God is calling us to look inward this morning. If you already have the correct view of yourself ¡V let this be an encouragement. If at the end of this you realize you don¡¦t ¡V change. Allow God to make you into what he desires.

Turn with me, if you have your bibles to (advance) Romans 12:3-8 (read)

Our text is calling us this morning to do two things. The first ¡V (advance)

I. Look At Yourself (3-5)

Paul says that he¡¦s the messenger ¡V God¡¦s grace is the authority. It is by God¡¦s grace that he speaks about this as he does. He says: CHURCH!

a. Correctly view yourself

i. Don¡¦t think too highly of yourself

1. Wrong High image of self

a. Leads to pride

b. Leads to a large ego

You might begin to look around at all you have, and all you have accomplished and feel proud. Because somehow you did this by yourself. (advance)

Proverbs 16:18 (MSG) ¡V First pride, then the crash--the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.

c. Leads to the idea that you don¡¦t need God¡¦s grace

That perhaps you are above the need for God¡¦s grace. Grace is for the bad people, the prodigals, and the lost. ¡V Grace is for all of us, regardless the length of time you have been a Christian. Regardless of who you were, or how you acted before you gave your life to Christ. The wrong high image of self:

d. Leads to self-righteousness

e. Leads to Conceit (advance)

Galatians 6:3 ¡V If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

It¡¦s important for us to understand the attitude of Jesus ¡V (advance)

John 5:19 ¡V Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

Jesus says in John Chapter 8 that he only speaks what the father tells him to. If Jesus Christ came and showed a humble example of life ¡V and face it ¡V he could walk on water it would have been understandable if he was just a little prideful. He came to show us a perfect example ¡V shouldn¡¦t we follow that example of humility? There is caution in this as well.