More than Meets the Eye

I know, you are thinking that this is going to be a review of the Transformers movie.  Well, it's not, but I will say this about the movie, I was entertained and my 6 year old loved it (He liked Optimus Prime's paint job.)

I keep thinking that we forget that we have been created in the image of God.  We forget that we are the embodiment of potential, whether we, as individuals or the mass, live up to it or not.

There are so many people out there who have all of the potential in the world.  These people can do anything and be anything they want, yet, for some reason, they have never gotten past the starting line.  Actually, they have fall away from the starting line and actually have to work to get back there.

These people are the addicts, the alcoholics and the abused.  I have several friends who fall into these three categories.  Many times category one and two happen because of category three, which I think is actually the most destructive.

There is a movement in this country that I'm not completely on-board with.  It is the self-esteem movement.  I don't think that someone should be made to think more of themselves than what they are and I don't think people should be given things that they haven't earned.  I'm a practical person, I believe that the only entitlement that a person should be given is an equal opportunity.  I think we have a nation of young people who think they deserve everything just because they exist, and that will be what destroys our great nation.

However, I do believe in self-esteem.  I believe that a person who looks at themselves positively will have a better chance of living up to their potential, instead of being an example of wasted potential.

The biggest casualty an addicts, alcoholics or abused persons life is their self-image.  It doesn't matter how much a person is told that they are valuable, if they don't view themselves as valuable, they will never move past that starting line.

I have two friends that have more potential than anyone I've ever met.  I think the only people that rival their potential is each other.  However, they have both fallen into similar traps.  They are or have been caught in an endless cycle of addiction, lies and death. 

Both have been through rehabs.  Both have stepped away from the source of their addictions.  Both have fallen off the horse and gotten back on.  Neither one of them have a real clue on how to even get back to the starting line of life, because neither of them see themselves as having value.

I wish I could show them a picture of the way I see them.  I see both of these young men doing great things.  I see both of them changing the world in their own ways.  I could definitely see both of these guys as ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I can see that.  They both have the potential to be mighty men.  Men who can change and influence the world around them.  Men who can be good, no great, examples to those around them.

Yet, they still don't see any value in themselves.

Like Optimus Prime, there is more than meets the eye to people.  I wish, with all my heart that these guys could see beyond the ugly that they have created in their lives.  I wish they could see beyond the scar tissue and see the clean underneath.

One day they will see that through Christ they are being transformed by the renewing of their mind.  One day they will see that they too are a new creation through Christ Jesus.  They will understand that their potential that is, at this stage of their lives, unrealized, will soon be actualized.

Until then...

Dive Deep!