Week 2: March 12

Gospel Fluency in My Story

by Lauren Babyak

<< Back to All Weeks


If you'd prefer a print version of this week's content, you can download the PDF here.


DAY 1


Stories permeate our lives. Between news channels, TV shows, movies, plays, musicals, social media, books, etc., we are inundated with the stories of people we know, people we don’t know, and everyone in between.


Telling stories (real and make believe) is a multi-billion dollar industry because stories captivate us. They move us. They encourage us. They haunt us. They entertain us. They challenge us. They change us.


The Gospel Fluency series is centered on a story. This story’s plot isn’t much different than the one we find in our favorite book or our favorite movie. There’s a main character, a dilemma, a hero, and a great ending. But, unlike the story in our favorite movie, the story of the Gospel carries an eternal impact. When we learn to view our own stories through the lens of the story of the Gospel, our lives are changed for eternity. As authors Jeff Vanderstelt and Ben Connelly state, “If we don’t view life through the lens of God’s story, we view it in light of a lesser story.”


Have you ever put on color-tinted glasses? When you look through them, you literally see the world differently. If the lenses have a black tint, the sky looks dark and you instinctively check to be sure you have your umbrella in the car. If they have a red tint, your green lawn looks brown, and you’re suddenly pulling out the hose. The tint of the lenses changes not just what you see but how you act.


Part of becoming fluent in the Gospel is learning to see our own life stories - past, present, and future - in light of the message of the Gospel. It’s a change in our perspective, and it results in a change of our actions.


The overarching plot of the Gospel can be explained in four stages: creation, fall, redemption, restoration (new creation). This week we will look at our own stories in light of these four aspects of the Gospel as we work on viewing not just our own lives, but also the world, through the lens of the Good News.


Reflect on these verses:


Romans 1:21-23 - For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.


In what areas of your life are you exchanging the glory of God for your own glory?


Perhaps we don’t have graven images or physical idols in our homes, but we all make choices that reflect our love for ourselves over our love for God.


Ask the Lord to make clear to you the areas of your life where you need to make His glory known, not your own.


Romans 1:24-25 - Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.


REFLECTION:

Give thought to the following scenarios:

  • coveting a coworker’s position or salary
  • thinking too highly of a friend because his/her kids are better behaved than yours or because he/she seems to have it all together
  • desiring the body, mind, possessions, or accolades of someone else
  • accomplishing tasks to the best of your ability in order to receive praise
  • considering personal recognition a higher priority than a broken and contrite spirit

In what areas (whether listed above or not) of your life are you worshiping “created things rather than the Creator”?


Ask the Lord to convict you this week so that you can relinquish these areas of your life to Him, that He would become the focus of your story.

Day 2

In his book The Spiritual Danger of Doing Good, Peter Greer quotes Jon Tyson, pastor of Trinity Grace Church in New York City: “If you don’t know you are the beloved, you will have to be the star of every story.” The opposite is true as well: When you know you are the beloved, you no longer need to be (or desire to be!) the star of every story.


As we look at our own stories over the next several days, a significant paradigm shift should happen as we reshape how we see our lives and the world around us. Our tendency as imperfect humans is to make our stories about us. They are our stories after all. But, our stories - our lives - are not meant to be about us; they are meant to be about the One who created us, redeemed us, and restored us. When we begin to view our lives and the world through the lens of the Gospel, we realize that we are not the main character, and we are certainly not the hero; God is. Not only does Gospel fluency cause us to remember that we aren’t the main character, it also causes us to lose the desire to be the main character.


In order to change the way we view our lives and the world, we have to change the lens through which we see everything. Scripture is our lens. Without a solid knowledge of the Truth, our perspective will not change. As we better understand who we are because of who God says we are, our focus begins to shift from constantly looking at ourselves to more consistently searching for God in every aspect of life. This is not an immediate change. It takes time and it takes a humble reliance on the Holy Spirit as He convicts us and strengthens us in this journey to more fully seeing God as the main character of our stories.


Today we will focus on the first two aspects of the Gospel message: creation and fall.


Reflect on the following verse:

Genesis 1:27 (ESV) - So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.


This is a familiar verse. It’s almost too familiar to us. Because we have become so familiar with this Truth, we can become numb to its significance. Read the verse again and personalize it:

So God created (insert your name) in his own image; in the image of God he created me…


Don’t skim past that. God created YOU in HIS image. YOU bear the image of the almighty, all-powerful, all-loving God. You have inherent dignity, worth, and value because you are stamped with the image of your Creator. Your value comes from the One who created you. No person, no job, no position, no words of affirmation, no promotion, no amount of volunteer hours dictate who you are. Your race, your gender, your social status, and your political affiliations do not determine your worth. Your intrinsic value comes from God and God alone.


When we believe this Truth, our perspective changes and our actions follow suit. Instead of seeking personal glory, we seek the glory of the One who loved us enough to create us in His image.


Psalm 139:14 (ESV) - I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.


Does your soul know this well? Genesis 1:27 tells us that we were all created the same; we were all created with intrinsic worth. Psalm 139 tells us that we are all created uniquely, with our own specific purpose, our own individual gifts and abilities.


Are you striving for the purpose and the abilities of someone else? If so, consider how that detracts from the person God created you to be. Consider how your longing to be like someone else detracts from the body of Christ.


The fall. We’re all familiar with this.

Genesis 3:6-7 (NIV) - When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.


Author, Jen Wilkin points out the progression of sin in her study on the book of James. We see this progression with Eve. She sees the fruit.→She desires the fruit→She takes the fruit. The same progression is seen of David with Bathsheba and Achan with stolen treasures. They see it; they want it; they take it. The same is true of us. We see an opportunity to sin; we begin to desire that sin more than we desire God and His best; we act on the sin.


Sin is about choosing ourselves over God. We know the penalty of sin is death (Romans 3:23), but the momentary pleasure takes precedence. We know that we are all sinners (Romans 6:23), but we easily forget sin keeps us from perfectly reflecting the image of God that is stamped on us because in the moment of our sin, we aren’t seeking to reflect Him; we’re seeking to please ourselves.


Reflect on Romans 6:12-13 (ESV) -

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.


In what areas of your life are you choosing to please yourself instead of pleasing God?

Confess these areas to God. Ask Him to reveal your sins to you not for the purpose of guilt or shame, but for the purpose of repentance.


As we close today, thank the Lord for creating you in His image and for creating you uniquely. Thank Him for creating you with and for a specific purpose. Then ask Him to lead you to mourning the sin in your life and to increase your desire to choose Him over yourself.

Day 3

Today we move to the final two stages of the Gospel: redemption and restoration. Human words cannot do these stages justice, so, today, my words will be few. Instead, we will sit in the Word. As we read the Scripture passages below, reflect on the work we did yesterday in changing our perspective. See yourself through the lens of the Gospel: you were fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God, and you are a sinner.


But that’s not the end!


Let’s return to the final verses we looked at yesterday:

Romans 6:12-13 - 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.


Let’s keep reading!

Romans 6:14 - For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.


Hallelujah! These verses do not mean that we will no longer deal with sin when we’ve asked Jesus to be our Lord and Savior. We will struggle with making a choice between ourselves and God for our entire lives, BUT that sin no longer has dominion over us. It no longer determines our eternal destiny because Jesus paid it all.


Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) - For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.


You are (or will be if you haven’t yet made the decision) saved by grace. What a gift! We aren’t saved by our good works. We have no need to weigh our good deeds and our sins in order to make sure we do more good than bad.

Once again, it’s not about us; it’s about Him. GOD is the hero of our story, not us.


In Matthew 19:30, as Jesus died on the cross, He proclaimed, “It is finished!” Sit with that. It…is…FINISHED. The end. The price has been paid. The ultimate sacrifice was made.


Now, we are children of God, His heirs.


John 1:12-13 (ESV) - But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.


It gets even better! We finish with restoration.


2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.


This is another familiar verse. Don’t let its familiarity cause you to miss the gravity of its message. THE OLD HAS GONE! You aren’t hanging in the balance. You aren’t working to get rid of the old; it’s already gone. That’s the work of Jesus. It’s a gift. You can’t earn it. You don’t deserve it. God offers it to us.


For our entire lives we will strive to be more like Christ, but that striving comes from a love for the Lord and a desire to please Him. This is a pruning of the areas of our life that aren’t pleasing to God, but that’s sanctification, not salvation. Salvation is done by God and God alone. Take His gift. Thank Him for it.


When the message of the cross - the message of both redemption and restoration - is the lens through which we see our lives and the world, we will be overcome with humility, compassion, grace. We cannot be overwhelmed by God’s grace and keep it to ourselves. It’s impossible.


Are you overwhelmed by the gift of grace that gives you eternal salvation and a new life? Or do you take it for granted because it has become so commonplace to you?


This Easter season, make it a priority to thank God every single day for the gift of salvation. Watch and see how that simple act helps you remember that He is not only the main character of your story but also the hero.

Day 4

Let the truths of this week sink deeply into your heart.


You have value because you were created in the image of God. You were fearfully and wonderfully created in a way that no one else was. You were created with a purpose and for a purpose. You are a sinner. You are saved by grace. You are a new creation.


Did you notice all the “you’s” in those sentences? If you’re a good English student, you also noticed all the passive voice in those sentences. Let’s change that. Let’s let the main character be the main character. Let’s let the one who does the action do the action.


God created you in His image. God fearfully and wonderfully created you with a purpose and for a purpose. God saved you from your sin and made you a new creation.


Did you notice how changing the focus of these sentences to God instead of you gives credit where credit is due but it also takes a lot of pressure off of you? When you recognize God as the main character, you don’t need to worry about finding your purpose; God has already given you purpose. You don’t need to worry about getting into heaven; God has already made the way for you through the blood of Jesus.


Let’s change our perspective. Let’s see the world through glasses fitted with lenses that help us see God at work everywhere we look.


He is the main character, not us.


When He is the hero and the focus of our story, then we can boldly proclaim the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (ESV): But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.


When we are fluent in the Gospel, when the Gospel changes how we see our own stories, we will boast in weaknesses, not in accolades. We will be content when life is hard. We will find joy in suffering. We will be humble when things are going well. All because we will desire God’s glory, not our own.


Listen to “My Story” by Big Daddy Weave. You’ve likely heard this song before. Whether it’s new to you or you can sing every word, focus on the lyrics.


Reflection Questions:

Can you confidently say “to tell of my story is to tell of him”?


What parts of your life do you need to surrender to the Lord so that your life tells of HIS story, not your own?


If I told you my story

You would hear hope, that wouldn't let go

And if I told you my story

You would hear love that never gave up

And if I told you my story

You would hear life, but it wasn't mine

If I should speak, then let it be of the grace

That is greater than all my sin

Of when justice was served, and where mercy wins!

Of the kindness of Jesus, that draws me in

Oh to tell you my story, is to tell of Him

If I told you my story, you would hear victory

Over the enemy

And if I told you my story, you would hear freedom

That was won for me

And if I told you my story, you would hear life

Overcome the grave

If I should speak, then let it be of the grace

That is greater than all my sin

Of when justice was served, and where mercy wins!

Of the kindness of Jesus, that draws me in

Oh to tell you my story, is to tell of Him

This is my story, this is my song

Praising my savior, all the day long

This is my story, this is my song

Praising my savior, all the day long

For the grace that is greater, than all my sin

Of when justice was served, and when mercy wins!

Of the kindness of Jesus, that draws me in

Oh to tell you my story, is to tell

Of the grace that is greater, than all my sin

Of when justice was served, and when mercy wins!

Of the kindness of Jesus, that draws me in

Oh to tell you my story, is to tell of Him

Oh to tell you my story, is to tell of Him

This is my story, this is my song

raising my savior, all the day long