O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
Recently I sat with some sweet Christian sisters for a time of fellowship. The conversation moved from the beauty of God’s word to the problem self. We all wished we didn’t have to battle the weaknesses of our flesh, and we were all on the same page with praise for the grace of God.
How much time do we consume by being consumed with thoughts about ourselves? We mull over our physical imperfections, and spend hundreds of dollars to trying to make them go away or minimize them at best. When we’re not consumed with that, we think about how we fall so short of the lovely nature of Jesus. By contrast we see in ourselves an angry temper, an unkind mouth, a jealous spirit. Shall I go on? Sometimes even our prayer life is an indicator of how much we focus on ourselves. We all long to be changed but even that can become a selfish ambition. What we really want is to be rid of the reality of our humanness.
When our eyes are not on us, we look at others. That’s exactly the pattern of our human nature. We find those who are much worse and grab a moment of satisfaction. Or we look at others who’s godliness put us to shame and we crumble under condemnation.
What a merry go round! If we’re not careful we can spend most of our lives on that ride. But we have a choice!
Ladies, let’s look again at what the Psalmist said. It reminds us to magnify the Lord and stop mulling over the “me” and “them” in every one of us. The word “magnify” means to increase in significance, intensify, to enlarge.
When you and I magnify God’s limitless beauty, greatness and glory everything else takes its proper place. It’s not that we make Him bigger. We simply come to realize His significance in relation to everything else, including ourselves. When we magnify the Lord the problem of self and others, is silenced.
I love Corrie Ten Booms perspective. This is what she said.
Look without and be distressed
Look within and be depressed
Look to Jesus and be at rest
Ladies, let’s allow God to work His work of changing and transforming us and others into the image of His beloved Son. In the meantime let’s forget about ourselves, magnify the Lord and worship Him!