A visit to the eye doctor this week reminded me of the importance of looking through the correct lens. Even the smallest adjustment can affect how we see the world! Far-off road signs and the fine print might not be accessible without finely tuned lenses.
Perhaps something we rarely consider is the lens through which we see God and His Word. Whether we know it or not, our life experiences and core beliefs about ourselves have a considerable effect on how we interpret the Bible. If we look at the scriptures through a lens of fear, shame, self-condemnation, rejection, perfectionism, abandonment, or feeling responsible for everyone, that lens will affect how we read, understand, and apply the spiritual principles there.
For so many years I viewed this passage in Galatians through the lens of shame and perfectionism:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-25
My version would have read something like, “Be loving, joyful, peaceful, etc. or you are not a real Christian. Crucify your flesh and stop sinning or you won’t be good enough for God or anyone else. Show the Holy Spirit that you can be like Him.”
Can you see how the lens of perfectionism and shame didn’t allow the full truth to come through? Once God started removing layers of these lenses, I saw that the Galatians passage highlights the Spirit of God as the SOURCE of the qualities I was trying to perform on my own. The power to crucify the flesh belongs to the Spirit, who leads the transformation of our hearts and minds as we keep in step. We are not in charge of our own spiritual transformation. It is our job to yield and participate in what God is doing in us.
Sadly, at one point in my life, it just became too painful to read the Bible. It felt like one shame storm after another as I found countless ways I had fallen short and endless expectations to be something I wasn’t. I actually had to take a break from reading for a while because it wasn’t good for my mental health.
Once I began to ease back in, I kept to the Psalms because they are so full of the emotions I was feeling at the time. Then I moved to the Gospels to see Jesus in action. God challenged me to look through the lens of love and grace. What does this passage say about God’s love? What affection is He showing me right now? How is His grace evident here? It was like reading the Bible for the first time!
I learned another new approach to the Bible when the Lord whispered to my heart that He wanted to read a passage to me. He changed some of the pronouns and the point of view so that the message was coming straight from Him to me. This has been such a powerful practice for me that I started a new podcast doing this very thing! If you’re intrigued by this idea, you can try the first 8-minute episode of “Pressing In with Jamie De Silvia” on all the major podcast platforms.
Some might think that I am watering down the Word of God. However, I am trying to remove the lenses that are keeping us from really seeing and understanding the Word. There is a mountain of truth to be discovered in the Bible. Some of it is hard truth, spoken explicitly! I’m not trying to remove the truth, but merely the added dysfunction that affects what we hear and read.
Recently, I was reading in the book of John in the Passion Translation and this jumped out at me:
Moses gave an intimidating set of standards, but Jesus is unveiling truth wrapped in mercy. He has some hard things to say, but He does it in a loving way. Keep that mercy in mind as you read His words.
Friend, do you have any filters that might be affecting the way you see God or understand His Word? If you’re not sure, ask the Holy Spirit to show you. A word or two might pop into your mind.
Lean into these words and talk to God about them.
It is not your job to remove the filters. God will remove them one layer at a time with His healing hands. Lean into His loving transformation. You can trust Him.
