If You Look in the Mirror and See Good for Nothing, That Is All It Will Be

Sermon outline

Your identity is not what you achieve but who God says you are, so deal with what shaped you, forgive and grow yourself, refuse the world's mould, and see in the mirror the person God made rather than a good for nothing.

1. An eagle raised among chickens

   A farmer finds an eagle's egg and puts it under his hens. The eaglet eats, sounds and flies like a chicken. One day it sees a majestic bird high in the sky and is told, 'That's an eagle; we are not like them.' It goes back inside and dies without fulfilling its purpose. We go through life with borrowed identities and lose ourselves, but God designed us to fly high.

   Illustration: The eagle hatched among chickens, looking up at an eagle in the sky and being told to come back inside because it was getting late.

   “But God has designed us to be like those eagles. He has designed us to fly high.”

2. Growing up angry, and why a Christian home is not enough

   Pastor Wesley grew up like every other youngster. His father, a policeman who had himself grown up without a father, was rarely home and struggled to switch off from law enforcement, and the two fought constantly. He was an angry teenager who excelled at sport because he could be angry there legally, yet felt guilty walking up for awards because his self-image was so low. He thought accomplishing more would add value to him, but it was only a relationship with Jesus that did, and growing up in a Christian home is not the same as having that relationship.

   Illustration: Later in life he and his father mended their fences.

   “Just because you grew up in a Christian home doesn't necessarily mean that you have a relationship with Jesus.”

3. Identity is first what the word says, then a state of mind

   Your identity is first what the word of God says about you, the one Jesus died for. Second, it is a state of mind: if you have no self-value you have none to give, and if your emotions depend on friends and family there will always be a void, because nobody is perfect. Look in the mirror and tell yourself you love yourself. A few days before his wedding, after an argument about what his parents would do, his father apologised that he did not know how to meet his expectations, and told him that God could fill the void. Those words still guide him as a father of many hats.

   Illustration: His father's words before his wedding: if you are trying to fill a void, find yourself with God; God can be your father, your mother and your best friend, the one who will never betray you.

   “If I have no self value, how do I give self value? You can't. It's impossible.”

4. Chosen before the world was made, so let go of the malformation

   Pastor Thamie reads that God chose us before the world was made, which is a different starting point from believing we came from animals. Pastor Wesley explains malformation as a structural defect formed between birth and coming of age: 'I do this because I come from a broken home or from poverty.' Once you identify it you can deal with it. Forgive, release and hand it over, and do not pick it back up the next morning; and sometimes the person you need to forgive is yourself.

   Illustration: You lie awake fighting someone in your dreams and wake up tired, while the person you are fighting is not thinking about you at all.

   “We will hand it over to the Lord and the next morning we'll pick it up, take it back.”

   • Ephesians 1:3-4

5. Grow yourself, or become what you hate

   School, career, a house and a car are what everyone does; your value is something else. If you never deal with what hurt you, you are likely to become exactly the person you hated. Grow yourself by reading the word, good books and autobiographies, and learn how others came through your situation, because everyone worth something has been through something. God prepares a table before you in the presence of your enemies, but there is a proofing process and decisions to make.

   Illustration: People say the apple rolled away from the tree. He says it is like a golf ball: it rolled away and came back to the tree.

   “If we don't deal with them, we become exactly like the person we hate.”

   • Hebrews 13:5
   • Psalm 23:5
   • Ephesians 6:12

6. God blesses an original, not a counterfeit

   Pastor Thamie reads Romans 12: do not conform to the standards of this world, but let God transform you by a complete change of mind. Many young people are shy at school and someone else online. Pastor Wesley says that when the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable. A chicken only ever looks straight ahead or down at the feed; the eagle's long beak and dark feathers were not defects but placed there for a reason. Posting what you eat and wear is chicken feed; look up and stretch your wings.

   Illustration: The chickens tell the eagle his feathers are the wrong colour and his beak is abnormal, while their own is just right for seeds.

   “God always blesses an original. He doesn't bless a counterfeit.”

   • Romans 12:1-2

7. What you see in the mirror is what you will be

   Brands, jeans and phones do not determine your value; your mind does. Develop your mind, heart, spirit and body, and create the person you want to see. It does not matter what the teacher said. As a man thinks, so is he. Pastor Thamie adds that you are a child of God, fearfully and wonderfully made, and that filters are a fake life. Pastor Wesley says brands and cars are products of a blessed life, which starts with a blessed mind, and urges viewers to get to know God's heart the way a young man finds out everything about the girl he likes.

   Illustration: The eagle walks into the farmer's house, looks in the mirror and says, 'Even though I'm living in the chicken pen, I'm an eagle.'

   “Now, if you look in the mirror and you see a good for nothing, then that's all it will be.”

   • Proverbs 23:7
   • 1 John 3:1
   • Psalm 139:14
   • 1 Samuel 16:7
   • Jeremiah 29:11

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