I was handed some funny kid glasses. When I put them on, I was shocked! Because the lenses were red, all the world was red. All I could see was red. The sky was red. The grass was red. Cars were red. Weird.

Have you experienced this too? Have you ever experienced the weirdness of putting on other types of glasses? Maybe you’ve worn 3-D glasses. Consider: because of the lens in which you look – you see everything differently.

Scripture talks about this, when it says, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-24 NKJV)

In the King James version it says, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.”

Notice, goodness is derived from single vision. Seeing things light and bright comes from single vision.

Do we have single vision or do we have double vision? Do we have single-mindedness or do we have double-mindedness?

To have singular vision is to have singular focus. Have you ever seen how champion horses train and run? They wear glasses to block out distractions, so they don’t get pulled in other directions.

To root out double-mindedness we must do the same. We must put on glasses to keep our eyes on Christ.

To root out double-mindedness we must do the same. We must put on glasses to keep our eyes on Christ. And, nearly equally important, we must be aware of what pulls us off course…

What causes double-vision and double-mindedness?

1. The World. The world tells us to be powerful, purposeful and fashionable. The world instructs us that we should speak a certain way, have money, be fashionable and fit in. We either subscribe to the world’s way, or we awkwardly stand out as we stand in the way of Christ.

2. Our own Doubt. When we choose one way, as we trust in God, when we lay our hand on the plow, and look back – we divide our heart and cause instability in our soul.

3. Religious Pressures. When we project an image, when we recite a scripture or when we preach things that are not true or living realities in our own lives — we walk as a Pharisee.  This divides us because we know, deep within, that who we are projecting does not match up to what we are internally possessing.

4. Empty Promises and Pledges. Scripture encourages us to let us our yes be yes and our no be no. When we make promises to God or to others and then ditch them, we sear our conscience.  We then, are divided from what we initially said. This creates dissonance in the soul.

5. Bitterness. We have been forgiven much, but it is hard to forgive the person who has hurt us so much. When we don’t forgive as we have been forgiven, our eyes start to look at harboring anger, rather than being singly focused on love. This divides us from the cause of Christ.

Do you struggle with any of this? I know, at various times in my life, I have. Not only have I struggled, but I continually overcome these things.

How?

With one word: humility.

Humility knows that the grace of Jesus is enough to defeat the world. For instance, where I don’t have power, the looks, the money, the way of the world, I have the King of Kings who is in charge of everything. When I look to Him, I fear nothing and need nothing, because He has power to give me everything. Double-mindedness is destroyed when we remember who is sitting on the throne and who loves us.

Humility knows that God is more powerful than any bad decision we have ever made. So, when doubt shows its face, we can say, “But Jesus…” “But Jesus is greater…” “But Jesus is able…” “But Jesus is Redeemer….” “But Jesus can bring resurrection life power…” Doubt is deconstructed and devoid when we remember that all things are possible for those who believe. Then, we get single-eyed and single-minded, in faith.

Humility is authentic. It does not need to prove itself to people. It does not take on the religious pressure to be more than it is, because it is vulnerable and open. Like Jesus when He was in the wilderness, children of God have nothing left to prove. We are already loved, already chosen and already wanted by God. We need no approval from man, because we have everything in Christ Jesus.

We are already loved, already chosen and already wanted by God. We need no approval from man, because we have everything in Christ Jesus.

Humility knows its tendency to not follow through. So, rather than making empty promises, it avoids letting its mouth speak too fast.

Humility is generous and lavish with love, just as Christ was. It forbids bitterness from taking hold of how it sees others.

At the end of the day, we root out doubt and double-mindedness as we encourage ourselves in truths. The more we do this, the more we walk single-eyed and single-minded. We keep our eyes on Jesus.

Prayer: Father, help me to keep my eyes on Jesus for then my confidence will be sure, my heart will find peace and my soul will be at rest. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.