It has been said that what you see determines the direction of your life. If this is the case, then your perception of yourself can either propel you forward or keep you stuck in the past. The perspective you hold directly affects the possibility of change.

A way to understand this principle is to look at how a husband and wife who are house hunting can hold greatly differing perspectives on a potential fixer upper.

When driving up to the home, the husband first notices the tattered roof and chipped paint on the siding. Inside the house, the issues pile up: shoddy wiring, hardwood floors in need of repair and a yard overgrown with bushes and weeds. As he assesses the amount of work needed to turn this shabby shack into a home for his family, he feels overwhelmed and defeated. The job required seems too great to handle. As they leave,  he feels convinced this could never be their dream home.

On the other hand, all the wife sees is potential. She begins to picture her and her husband swinging on the front porch while their children play hide and seek with the neighborhood kids. As she strolls through the kitchen, she can almost smell future Thanksgiving dinners being prepared. She closes her eyes for a moment and sees their children sliding around the hardwood floors in socked feet, giggling and having fun.  With a little hard work and a lot of elbow grease, this house could become their home.  As she gets back into the car, she feels excited and hopeful this just may be the house they have been looking for.

The husband and wife drive up to the same house together, see the same necessary repairs, but walk away with two different points of view.  The husband sees the problems while the wife sees the possibilities.  One feels defeated while the other feels hope.  This houses potential to become a home depends on the buyers perspective.

Similarly, the potential your One Word has on your transformation depends on your perspective.

As you develop ways to measure growth through your One Word, take the necessary time to examine your perspective. When you look at your character, what do you see: flaws that leave you hopeless, or gaps where growth can occur? Are you a work in progress, or someone already doomed for failure? Does your perspective on the places where you fall short make you defensive, play the blame game or attempt to escape the transformation process altogether?

Or do you see your problems through the eyes of Christ and your identity in Him? Do you believe the ability for personal transformation lies solely on your shoulders, or through the Holy Spirit working inside of you? Do you hope that your circumstances will change, or that you will change in the midst of your circumstances? Through which lens or perspective do you view yourself? The answer to this question influences everything.

Wed love to hear your response to the following question: Read Philippians 1:3-11. When you look at the progress that has occurred through your One Word journey, do you focus on the places where you fall short or the areas where growth has taken place? Why does this tend to be your default perspective?