We all have blindspots because it’s part of being human. There are some parts of us that we can't clearly see. Many times we can only see blindspots with someone else's help. The great thing about life is that you're surrounded by countless mirrors. Every person that comes into your life is a mirror. Someone comes and reflects a lot of happiness, and you want them to stay. Someone else comes and reflects a lot of your anger, and you want them to go. They all show you different aspects of yourself.
This is another reality-check that real spirituality is a practical way of living your everyday life in integrity. We tend to evaluate our life story by what we can see apart from faith instead of by what we can see when faith opens our eyes. Spiritual awakening is like turning all the lights on at once. It's a ton of information, but gradually your eyes adjust.
While there's a short period of blindness with that, it does help
to have other people to care for you as you transition out of the more
permanent blindness you've been living in. That’s only natural. But when we consider
reality from God’s point of view, we start identifying the blind spots that
keeping us from living a story worth telling. We must distinguish between the
temporary and the eternal. Here are five practical steps we can take right now
to get rid of blind spots in our faith so we can live a life that matters:
1.
Acknowledge
your viewpoint is not perfect. No one has unobstructed vision at least not on
this side of eternity. Know that each person’s faith is defective in some way.
We’ve all got blind spots. By definition, we can’t see them.
2.
Beware
of sudden disappearances. When you are thinking about certain topics, do you
find yourself withdrawing from discussions with others? You may be avoiding
issues you need to see more clearly. Shine a spotlight on those areas and deal
with what you see.
3.
Engage
in healthy self-examination. Check yourself regularly by intentionally
inspecting what you see from numerous perspectives. Measure what you see
against what you believe to be true about God. When criticizing others, start
with the phrase, “I may be missing something here…”
4.
Visit
with a vision specialist. Sometimes it takes a specialist to see what you
can’t. Enlist the help of a pastor or trusted advisor who shares your beliefs,
and will speak the truth to you in love. Don’t just seek out people who will
agree with you.
Wear corrective lenses. Borrow someone else’s
perspective on a regular basis to double-check your own take on life. Surround
yourself with a community of believers who will tell you the truth about what
they see. You were not designed to take this journey to live a story worth
telling all by yourself.
5.
When
we refuse to walk by faith, we choose a story confined to “the seen.” It’s a
fleeting tale already in the process of fading even as we live it. The best of
us will leave little trace of our existence once our time on Earth has come and
gone. Faith opens your eyes to the reality that we were not created just for
the present but for the future.
“Because your brain uses information from the areas around the blind
spot to make a reasonable guess about what the blind spot would see if only it
weren't blind, and then your brain fills in the scene with this information.
That's right, it invents things, creates things, makes stuff up! It doesn't
consult you about this, doesn't seek your approval. It just makes its best
guess about the nature of the missing information and proceeds to fill in the
scene.” (Daniel Gilbert) [i]
[i] Inspired by the sermon
“Amazing Grace: Now I See” (installment three) Sunday October 21, 2018, Pastor
Dave Jansen, CenterPoint Gahanna Church Gahanna, OH.
Sources
used:
·
“5 Tips
for Finding Your Blindspots on Your Spiritual Path” by Spiritual Awakening Process
·
“5 Ways to Get
Rid of “Spiritual Blind Spots” by Bill
Blankschaen
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