A You shaped me

Have you ever noticed how married people or close friends or even co-workers begin to look alike or talk alike? It seems we are often influenced by those around us and begin to slowly morph into them. Maybe it’s the young woman who realizes she is turning into her mother by the way she reacts to something, or the married couple who end up dressing similar day after day without pre-planning, or the group of teenage girls (or guys) who all use the same phrases and jargon in their daily text, phone, and IM conversations. It seems that when you are in the presence of another person for a good length of time you begin to take on their habits, mannerisms, likes and dislikes, or even their appearance.

Take a look back at your life and see how you were shaped by the influences around you. Oh I rocked the leggings, t-shirt dresses, mall bangs, and slap bracelets in elementary school because all my friends did the same thing. The many summers spent working at summer kamp brought to me a whole new vocabulary scoped by the people I spent day and night working with: “Spring Break 99”, “Fid-teen”, “Man Cave”; words that to any other person wouldn’t make sense but to myself and the others like me they spoke volumes. Then there’s the moment when I yelled after my roommate as she left for the evening “Be safe” as I heard my mother’s voice channeled through my mouth.

We are undoubtedly a product, if not of our surroundings, then of those who surround us.

About a month ago I wrote a post titled “A me shaped You”. If you haven’t read it I suggest you go back and spend a few minutes with it because I’m going to pick up on the thought line that lead me to that post. Go, I’ll still be here when you get back.

So if we are a product of who surrounds us, than through our faith should we not begin to look a bit like God? That’s a tricky question, because in my Christian life I haven’t seen a whole lot of physical changes develop to make me more god-like. But then again, we are already in His image, so maybe the changes aren’t all that physical. Also I’m not sure how to pick up on the vernacular of God, nor are we in general two-way spoken conversation so I can’t really begin to speak like him, so there goes the vocal image.

What does that leave us with? Our hearts? Our actions? Our minds?

If I take a good look at myself in the mirror it isn’t the physical or even the spoken that I see change (oh these might change on account of the other changes, but they are the root of becoming more like Him). Instead I see changes occurring deep inside, in the core of who I am. They aren’t dramatic changes either, and often times they go fully unnoticed by myself or others until they cause some outward action to change.

And since these changes occur oftentimes without notice, I’m pretty sure that I’m not even an active participant. Though not active, I would say I’m willing. That might be the key to becoming more like Him, to having a me shaped You. The willingness to let someone in, to make changes that you might not notice, that you might not appreciate, but to let the change occur, to let the One change you to be more like Him.

Another big part of changing is that it often comes in the midst of some type of pain. This isn’t to say that pain is the catalyst for all changes, but it sure is a popular one, at least in my own life. And I realize that the pain is often because I’m so defiant to those changes. I might think or say that I want to be a You shaped me, but when it comes down to it, I’m not willing to give up what I hold on to that is in the way of that change. And so a collision of sorts occurs, with my defiant selfishness set against the will of one who loves me so much He died for me. Guess who wins that fight? And that’s where the pain enters, at the point of my fighting to hold on to what I must relinquish to accept what He has to offer. But at the end of that fight, after the collision, there is change, there is always change, because I leave that place different from what I started. I lay down something that was of me to pick up something that is of Him.

But back to those areas that we begin to look more like Him: our hearts, our minds, our actions. Each area is tied to the other and yet each area give evidence of our shape changing, of us becoming less like ourselves and more like Him.

I want to chew on each of these areas, how they’ve changed in my own life, how my shape has changed to be more like Him. And so this is only the beginning of this post. I’m still thinking and reflecting. I would love to hear your thoughts on this, your ideas, or maybe your own experiences.