What is the Condition of Your Lens?

Matters of the heart. This is what Holy Spirit has been speaking to me about a lot these days.

Last week in the blog post Guard Your Heart, we talked about the importance of not allowing the seeds that the enemy plants to grow into weeds in our hearts. These seeds were planted to rob us of our joy and peace that is ours through Christ. They were also planted to stifle all of our God-given gifts and talents that were placed in us to share with the world and to stop the beauty that resides on the inside of us from being manifested on the outside.

This morning as I was pondering, I heard ever so softly the question, “what is the condition of your lens?”

I often say the manner in which we view others and respond to situations is largely dependent upon the condition of the lens that we are viewing it through. That lens is our heart.

I started thinking of all the times in my life when my perception of people and situations were skewed because of the condition of my heart.

A heart that is wounded from rejection will view others from a lens of skepticism. It views others as unsupportive and seeks validation at all costs. It will paralyze you in doing what God placed on your heart to do or speaking life into others for fear of what others may think or say.

A heart that is unforgiving is easily angered, offended, and bitter. It will lash out at others with little patience or compassion.

A condemned heart will view themselves as unworthy and unfit to be used by God. When you see yourself through this lens, you will not show up fully in your life. You will shrink back because you will feel like there is no way possible you are of any benefit to anyone.

These conditions are results of lies and seeds planted by the enemy through life situations. Everyone has a wounded heart at some point in their life. But Jesus came so that your heart doesn’t have to stay that way. He came to heal, purify, and clean our lens.

Sometimes the condition of our lens has been tainted for so long, we don’t even realize it. We just get accustomed to looking through this impure lens.

Our Jesus is so faithful! He loves you so much that not only will He show you the condition of your lens, he will cleanse it through His precious blood!

An encounter with Jesus will change you. It will change your heart. When we desire to draw closer to Him, He is faithful to draw closer to us, and reveal to us the matters of our heart. He does this so that we can live in the abundance that He has promised us.

He also does this so that we can be effective instruments in the earth. We can’t effectively bind the wounds of the brokenhearted if our hearts are still bleeding.

The bible tells us in Titus 1:15 “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.” The way we view others, the way we respond to situations, and the way we treat others is largely dependent upon the condition of our hearts.

When others see us, we want them to see a reflection of Jesus. In addition, we want to see the best in others and treat them accordingly, which will ultimately draw others to Him. We have to take the time to allow healing to take place in our hearts.

I encourage us all today to allow the blood of Jesus to purify and cleanse our lenses.

Let the condition of our lenses be crystal clear, clean, and new, as He conforms our hearts to His.

His word says that we are new creatures in Christ. His promises say that we can be healed and whole. Let’s embrace it, accept it, and walk in it.

If you would like a resource to help you on your healing journey, I would suggest my devotional Shameless Audacity: 7 Days to Freedom From Guilt and Shame. The devotional is available here on my website, or here on Amazon.

God bless you and life to you.