Pastor and Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe once said: “If you look to others you will be distracted; if you look to yourselves you will be discouraged; but if you look to Christ you’ll be delighted.”1 As I read this quote I thought that Wiersbe’s analysis was spot on. Let’s take a minute to look at each of these “D” words.
If you look to others you will be distracted
So often we make decisions in life based on what we think others may think about us and the decisions we are thinking of making. This mindset as a Christian can often get us distracted from making decisions based upon what Jesus would think, which is really how we should be making all of our decisions in life. It often comes down to we are more concerned about what will others think about us if we act in a certain way more than what would Jesus think about us. Thus, by looking to others not only can we get distracted but we can displease the Lord by putting others before Him. I pray that all of us will fix our eyes on Jesus when making decisions because in the final analysis what He thinks must always trump what others may think.
If you look to yourselves you will be discouraged
As a Christian I know that when I look to myself I can often get discouraged because I often fall short of the high standards I place upon myself to emulate and please Jesus. While I know how special I am to Jesus and how much He loves me, sometimes I forget that Jesus knows that as a human being I will often fail to follow His will and bring Him glory. Instead of condemning myself when I fail, which will always lead to discouragement, I need to just confess my failure, repent, and know that Jesus will forgive me and will still wonderfully use me in the future.
Satan would like nothing more than to keep me discouraged by having me wallow in my failures. But thankfully I know who I am in Christ and the quicker I take my focus off of myself and place it on Jesus, the sooner I can find peace for my soul by knowing His love for me is not performance based but based on being His child. So, Christian, the next time you fail Christ don’t think of yourself as a failure and get discouraged, but as a work in progress, striving for more holiness, and resolve to do better the next time.
If you look to Christ you will be delighted.
Now for the wonderful part! When we look to Jesus we can be delighted because we are fixing our eyes on, not only the Creator of the universe, but the One who saved our soul from eternal punishment in hell. There are so many delightful thoughts that come to my mind when I think about Jesus. For example, I know that I am eternally secure in Christ and heading to heaven; despite my many failures. I know that I am a treasured possession to Jesus. I know that Jesus has gone on ahead to prepare a mansion in heaven (the new earth) for me. I know that Jesus has given me the great privilege to work for Him and bring Him glory. And I know that my name is written in the Lamb’s book of life! And there are so many other wonderful thoughts that Jesus has toward me. In fact, according to (Psalm 139:18): “Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand…” My friends I can think of nothing in this world that is more delightful than looking and talking to Jesus. Yes, He is that great!
1 Warren W. Wiersbe quote: If you look to others you will be distracted; if… (azquotes.com)
Great insightful message of encouragement and insight. Thank you, Curt, for illuminating relevant texts such as these for our continued learning.