Today I would like to share the grace of God under the title, ¡°The Self-Portrait.¡± Without exception, all people live with outer and inner self-portraits. Outer self-portraits are reflected on the mirror, and inner self-portraits belong toone¡¯s inner being in his/her imagination. Our life changes depending on what kind of self-portraits we have. Especially our inner self-portraits greatly influence our life.

Winston Churchill, ex-English Prime Minister, said, ¡°Our attitude is trivial, but it makes a great difference.¡± In other words, the type of attitude we show is much more significant than the kind of work we do. The type of attitude and heart and mind we have will make a difference in our life. Therefore, our attitude of life is very important because it changes depending on what kind of self-portraits we have. Those whose self-portraits are positive can live a bright, active, and powerful life in any circumstances.

When we look into our self-portraits and attitudes, there are outer self-portraits, which are revealed through our acts and self-portraits. Our material self-portraits deeply influence those who are around us.

Proverbs 23:7 says, ¡°for he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost.¡±

Our outer self-portraits preside over our sensical beings while our inner self-portraits are our life itself. Our invisible inner beings work behind our life. In Exodus, God said to Moses in Chapter 3:10, ¡°So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.¡± God considered Moses as the right man for the position and wanted to work with him. However, Moses had a negative self-portrait, so he answered, ¡°Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3:11)?¡± Moses thought himself as a miserable shepherd after he had been expelled from the palace of Egypt so he replied to God, ¡°I can¡¯t make it.¡± If we have a negative self-portrait, our hearts will be intimidated, so we can¡¯t help but have a passive attitude. Even if God has a marvelous plan for us, we will end up with defeated life saying, ¡°I can¡¯t make it. It is impossible to me. I am a loser.¡±

The fourth dimension, namely the invisible world, is the inner world to which Jesus points.

John 3:6 says, ¡°Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.¡± The physical world can¡¯t preside over the spiritual world. The Holy Spirit is the fourth dimensional Spirit. What this fourth dimensional Spirit works can¡¯t be understood or controlled by the third dimensional material world.

John 3:3-4 says, ¡°In reply Jesus declared, ¡®I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.¡¯¡®How can a man be born when he is old?¡¯ Nicodemus asked. ¡®Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother¡¯s womb to be born!¡¯¡±

¡°The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned¡± (1 Corinthians 2:14).

We must think deeply how God sees us. Gideon once had a negative self-portrait. When God called Gideon as a judge, he said like this.
¡°But Lord,¡± Gideon asked, ¡°how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family¡± (Judges 6:15).
Nevertheless, God had said to Gideon, ¡°When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, ¡°The Lord is with you, mighty warrior¡±(Judges 6:12).

Even though Gideon saw himself as a trivial and miserable man, God saw him as a mighty warrior! If God is with us, we can be a mighty warrior! Therefore, we should not think of ourselves as worthless.

As Jesus went along, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, ¡°Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?¡± His disciples thought that the man became blind due to either his sin or his parents¡¯ sin. However, Jesus¡¯ answer was quite different from that of His disciples. ¡°Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life¡±(John 9:3). Jesus did not see his past, but his bright future.
As the man who was blind from birth could see by the power of God, Jesus saw him bringing glory to God in his future. Don¡¯t be discouraged even though you lack many things and seem to be worthless in the present. When you come to the Lord, He will change your life into a marvelous one that gives glory to God. So we must dream that God will change our future.

Many psychologists emphasize the importance of self-talk. Self-talk is to speak to oneself and it greatly impacts one¡¯s mental health and life.
However, many people talk to themselves more negatively than positively.They rarely speak negatively to others, but rather speak to themselves so harshly with ease. Those empty negative words devastate our hearts and minds and life. The best self-talk that makes our hearts and minds healthy is reading the Scriptures to ourselves. When we say to ourselves, ¡°But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God,¡± it will strengthen us greatly. God has made us a new creation so we must confess our new self-portrait with our mouths in our life.

Concerning the new creation, 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, ¡°Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!¡± We must look up to the portrait of the cross. We are no longer the old person. By accepting Jesus, our old person has gone, and we have become new creations.

Romans 8:1-2 says, ¡°Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.¡±

Song of songs records the love song between King Solomon and Shulamite. It regards the church as a woman while King Solomon as Jesus. Shulamite had a plain appearance. She said to herself, ¡°dark like the tents of Kedar.¡± This means her skin was black. However, Solomon said to her, ¡°How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful!¡± and confessed that he loved her more than any other women. Jesus also says to each of us, ¡°How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful!¡± No matter how we look, God dearly loves us! When we know His love is shown to each of us, we can overcome any difficulties.

Peter says, ¡°You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God¡±(1 Peter 2:9).

Psalm 100:3 says, ¡°Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.¡±

Matthew 6:25-26 says, ¡°Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?¡±

According to the law of visualization, if we always look up to the one whom we respect to become like him and imitate his character, we can follow the example of that person. The Lord said, ¡°Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me¡± (John 12:26).