“And we…are being transformed into His likeness with every increasing glory.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

God is not an affirming God.

I think this attitude that God must affirm me for me to listen to Him has been the result of Oprah.

Well that’s not entirely her fault, I blame Dr. Phil, Dr. Drew, our therapeutic culture and our self-absorbed worldviews.  We start with ourselves at the center of our life story and then carry those identities to God saying, “do you affirm me?”

We go from person to person, job to job, God to god, seeking affirmation but always feeling unsatisfied.

Our deep rooted insecurity means that we desperately seek validation, and flee like a wounded puppy from any word of rebuke.  What is unfortunate is that when we do this with our faith, we run from the only thing that can cure our insecurity.

For, no one who encountered Jesus asked Him, “Do you love me?” They could tell through His actions of engaging, challenging and transforming their lives that His love was not a fickle and flimsy love that needed to be validated. You didn’t have to ask, you just knew.

To have this sort of security is only found in the story of the Gospel. It cannot be based on our identity, our lifestyle, our work…this type of security can only come in the form of grace. For Jesus Christ died for us precisely because he did not affirm our lives; he paid for our failures.  He was interested in transformation and not affirmation.

There is not a single recorded story of people who encountered Jesus Christ and left fully affirmed to keep on trucking on. Yet they all felt loved.  

When people met the living God, their pasts were forgiven, their lives were challenged and their futures redirected (well all accept the rich young ruler).

So if you want to have your life affirmed I would suggest tuning into OWNTV, but if you want to have your life transformed then I would encourage you to participate in a Gospel-Centered community of faith.

But be warned–in choosing that second route you will be loosing yourself so that God may shine through you (Gal. 2:20).