The more clearly we behold Christ, the less we need to tell us who we are.
A mirror can tell you what you look like. But a mirror cannot tell you your . And yet we hand that job to it anyway — comparison, social media, career, circumstances, somebody's opinion.
Jesus has just given Peter his calling. Peter looks at John and asks: "Lord, what about this ?"
"What is that to you? You follow ."
Comparison can make you feel inferior — but it can also make you feel . Either way, another person becomes your measuring stick.
We all carry an image of who we think we should be — successful, spiritual, impressive. God isn't asking you to invent that version of yourself. He is inviting you to be by Him instead.
"We all... beholding... the glory of the Lord, are being into the same image, from glory to glory."
Beholding produces .
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your ." The world conforms you from the outside. The Spirit transforms you from the .
The mirror says: "This is all you are." But God says: "I am not with you."
2 Corinthians 5:17 — "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new ."
Not "how do I measure up." But: whose voice have I been ?