Spiritual Perspective

Reframing

Written by Dr. Bill Bagents

“Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer” (2 Corinthians 5:16).

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

God knew about reframing before the word was coined. God has always known both the limitations and the possibilities of human thinking. We can get stuck in an errant perspective. Stubbornness, laziness, or ignorance can leave us trapped in bad thinking. But on our better days, we don’t stay stuck. Thoughtfulness, humility, and the word of God move us to think, re-think, and grow.

On the bad days, people seem purposefully dense and aggravating. It’s as if they choose to peeve us. Our first though might be, “Oh no, not again. Why does this have to happen to me?” On our better days, we reframe. We choose to think from a spiritual perspective. We try to imitate the attitude of Christ.

While some might choose to grieve us, most people don’t give us that much thought. The lady who turned across us on the four-lane wasn’t attacking us. Perhaps she under-estimated the distance or our speed. Perhaps she doesn’t see well. Perhaps she wanted a new car and thought the first step was to kill the old one. Whatever the case, she didn’t even know us.

The first thought is to take offense. She could have killed us. We could have killed her. I’ve never wanted a new car enough to wreck an old one. Upon reflection, thank the Lord that the old car has good brakes. Thank the Lord we noticed her poor driving be-fore we got too close. Thank the Lord we missed her. I can even thank the Lord that in this case, she was the bad driver and I was the good one. No need to blame or scold. No need to take personal offence. Reframe biblically. Choose to think with kindness.