It is finished, Jesus said.  His sufficiency instantly covered our infinite future insufficiencies yet to occur. He died to make us new, yet so often we forget where to look when we need to be reminded that we are already enough.

Instead of fixing our eyes on Jesus, we tend to fixate on that which is easily seen right in front of us. Perhaps to the degree to which we look to others to fill us up, is the degree to which we are needing more of Jesus.

Don't Let Who You Were Talk You Out of Who You are Becoming

Bob Goff once said, “Live your life like you’re exactly who Jesus thinks you are.” What if, therein lies the key to radical heart change? Recognizing that we are justified and forgiven – that we are sufficient even in our insufficiencies ceases striving and frees ourselves and others from the bondage of guilt.

The amazing paradox is, we are already enough, even so – Christ isn’t finished with us yet! Have you ever noticed that when you treat people as if they are already who they are becoming, they tend to rise to the occasion?  What if we made the hopeful choice to start seeing ourselves and others the way that Jesus sees us – redeemed and justified. So even as we each struggle with the effects of sin, we can still choose to view all people through the lens through which Christ views us.

How to Change Anyone You Know in One Easy Step

Refusing to condemn someone in their sin, frees them from bondage and reflects to them the image of who they could become. Painting people a picture of who they could be, simply by treating them as such, inspires a hope in that which is far greater than human self-reliance.

This is why the single easiest way to influence another to change is to interject hope into your interactions with them – even long before you’ve begun to see signs of change from within them. Self change works much the same.  When we see ourselves as already who we are in the process of becoming, we are much more likely to rise to the occasion.

You know how you can feel much more motivated to continue working out and eating right, once you’ve gained momentum and started seeing even the smallest results?  Well in the case of human interaction, those smallest results would be the affirmation from others that they see the value already placed in us, even as it is still developing.

As Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe has said,”If you treat a man as he is, he will stay as he is.  If you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become that bigger and better man.”

How to Change Anyone You Know in One Easy Step

What empowering words can you gift someone today to call out the best in them? How can you hold up a mirror to reflect to others the best version of themselves – the person who they are becoming? Happy Easter, friends!