In many pictures as a young child, I am found in a less than happy mood. Quite a few pictures show me crying with my hand reaching to cover the camera lens. One in particular is a picture that my parents and siblings still reference to this day. At a carnival when I was six years old, my brothers (then five and eight) and I took a picture in a photo booth. The picture shows my younger brother on my left side, myself in the middle, and my older brother… reaching a hand across to hold the corners of my mouth into a smile.

As a child (and even sometimes now), I could not move on with the day without everyone knowing I was unhappy. If I was upset, I refused to smile. I was never angry, just sad. As the years have passed, my family has referred to this picture frequently because it is a part of who I am. In my walk of faith that led to my baptism on August 31 five years ago, I still frequently exhibited that childish behavior. However, walking with Christ the last five years has truly transformed me. Ephesians Chapter 4 provides extensive insight into what it means to walk in unity with the Lord. Regardless of your past disposition, Jesus made it possible that we “should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind” (4:17).

As each new day begins, we are presented with a collection of choices to make, each with its own significance. Even as a “good” woman, there are ways we can be better, ways we can be more like the woman He designed us to be. We are told to “keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace” (4:3) and “be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (4:23). We are given the choice of how we choose to show up in the world. I have chosen to spread the joy of His love and smile in every photo opportunity I get. As a woman of Christ, we should choose to walk in His image and let others know the transformative power of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Reflection

1. Look through childhood pictures of yourself. Do you think they are representative of your personality as child? Do you think you still present yourself to the world that way as an adult?

2. Every woman has transformed in some manner through God’s grace and mercy. What transformations have you experienced in your walk of faith?

3. How do you see your facial expressions affecting others that you come in contact with on a daily basis?

Goal Setting & Sharing

Lists three simple things that bring you true joy that will better prepare you, at the start of each day, to share the love Jesus has to offer with those you interact with.

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.(Ephesians 4:1-3 NKJV)

This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind.(Ephesians 4:17 NKJV)

That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24 NKJV)