Michelangelo, Judging, and Community

The best artist has that thought alone which is contained within the marble shell. The sculptor’s hand can only break the spell to free the figures slumbering in the stone.(Michelangelo)

I LOVE this quote. Sculptures have always fascinated me. I find it amazing how a chip broken off here and a little sanding there can produce something incredible and lifelike.

In Lysa Terkheurst’s study Unglued, she writes how we are like statues stuck within stone, and God is freeing us. This accurately describes the process of transformation in the life of a believer.

We are all in different stages of the sculpting process, and in the same way a sculptor uses tools, God uses us in each other’s lives to help in the process of becoming free from sin and brokenness. We need each other to become who God created us to be.

Often, instead of helping to free each other, we actually do the opposite.
We look at someone and say,

Wow, her arms look funny. I’m not sure how God could ever use her.

Check out his nose, it’s kind of odd looking.

She has one shoulder, but she seems to be missing the other.

We point out the unfinished places and never notice the places of beauty emerging.

What if instead of judging, we extended grace?

What if we listened to God?

What if we asked Him what He thought? God, what does my friend or this person need right now?

What if we listened to our friend and took time to really hear her heart?

What if when we see a problem with a marriage, a family, life choices, etc., we asked God for His heart and prayed accordingly?

What if He really did give us His heart for the people around us and really did give us wisdom to give a timely word or helping hand? I think He will and does.

He is always working toward our complete freedom and can use the people around us to sculpt us. I know that people around me can see brokenness in me. I need friends and people around me rooting for my freedom, and you do too. I need people to confront me, love me, and show me God’s heart when I can’t see it in my situation. We all need this.

This is the community we were meant to live in. You see, there are really two sides. We can stand with the enemy and accuse, or we can stand with God and root for each other while marveling at the work God is doing in each of our hearts. How amazing to watch His freeing hand at work! That’s what I want to be a part of!

Word of the Day: “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17)

Prayer: Father, I choose to stand on the side of freedom for myself and others. I ask that You use me to bring freedom, healing, and wholeness to the lives around me through my words and my actions. Please convict me when I accuse and help me to see others the way You see them,  and give me the heart to love those around me as You love them. Thank You that You are a freeing God.

Author:  Wendy Gerdes

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