Several months ago, I posted an interactive blog post entitled An Expression Of Love in which readers could dedicate a love song to Christ that expressed their heart toward Him. It has literally been one of the most rewarding posts that I have done yet. In today’s post, I’d like to highlight a video of a song by Bruno Mars that was posted there.
The video is ‘Just The Way You Are’ by Bruno Mars. Please take a few minutes and watch this video. After you watch the video, I’d like to draw your attention toward two components in the video that powerfully parallel our own spiritual journey.
1. The Destruction Of The Cassette Tape
In the beginning of the video, the young woman is enjoying listening to the song ‘Just The Way You Are’ on a cassette. Something in her longs to hear the message of the song. She is wrapped up in her own world when suddenly Bruno Mars himself walks in and interrupts her. He takes the tape from her and begins to destroy it. It seems that she was so caught up in her ritual that she didn’t realize the significance of what was happening. She was annoyed because she didn’t realize that the one who authored the song she was listening to was now directly with her. He took the tape from her to cause her to notice him. He wanted to sing directly to her.
In the same way, many of us were caught up in our own spiritual rituals trying to listen to Christ. Then He walked into our lives and took our ‘tapes’ (spiritual rituals) away so we could recognize that He is directly with us every moment of reality. He wants direct continual communication with us, not just when we have the ‘worship’ headphones on, so to speak. Like the woman in the video, we too were thrown for a loop when this happened. After losing our old religious rituals we once depended upon, we felt a loss until we realized how much better it truly is to hear Him sing directly to us.
2. The Radical Message Of Acceptance
In the video, Bruno laments that the beautiful woman he is singing to doesn’t think she is beautiful. He laments that she doesn’t believe him when he says that he wouldn’t change anything about her because he loves her just the way she is. She simply cannot see herself from his vantage point, and it breaks his heart. In his eyes she is perfect and stunningly beautiful, but in her own eyes, she only sees her own imperfections.
In the same way, Christ sees us as completely perfect and beautiful. He loves us and is completely pleased with us just the way we are now. This reality is offensive to the religious mindset that views ourselves through the lens of the fallen flesh. In the Lord’s eyes, however, our old fallen flesh has been crucified with Christ on the cross and has already passed away. We are now new creatures in Christ and He can only view us ‘in Christ’. We are now clothed in Christ’s beauty and righteousness (2 Cor. 5:16-17). Every time we view ourselves as anything but pure and beautiful, it breaks His heart.
Take a few minutes to watch this video again. As the woman in the video begins to listen to and believe what he says about her, they begin to connect. Can you hear Christ singing to you through this video? Do you believe Him?
Jamal Jivanjee
Related Reading: The Biggest ‘Cover Up’ Is Occurring Right Under Your Nose
“Christ sees us as completely perfect and beautiful. He loves us and is completely pleased with us just the way we are now.”
After so many years of being told all the things we need to do and the ways we need to change to receive God’s approval, it’s a struggle to believe that He sees us (or me!) as beautiful and complete in Him. But posts like this are wonderful reminders, and I thank you for it, brother!
Amen Catherine, keep on listening until it permeates very deeply into your heart:)
Excellent post Jamal!
Just wondering if this applies to our religious imperfections before Christ too… as we all figure/walk it out? I’m still very pro-house church but not to the exclusion of others that worship in a “institution” but also the rest of the week “in Christ.” (Yes, there are some that don’t walk it out all week but many DO.) There are extremes both ways… and balance. The video is awesome! We should ALL be stretched some way or other- This is a great challenge for me personally to say the least!
How does Christ respond to religious imperfections? How should we respond?
Margaret
Truth!! truth!!! plain unvarnished , beautiful and liberating . So let it be
Yes:)
Jesus. Nothing is better. Nothing is more real. Nothing can substitute. Nothing is All like Him. Nothing is full but Him. What a person! What a Lord! What a friend! What a brother!
Preach it bro:)
Wonderful message, Jamal.
“Every time we view ourselves as anything but pure and beautiful, it breaks His heart.”
There is a mountain of truth in your statement. If we view ourselves as other than in Christ and Christ in us, or if we compare ourselves as not as pure, or more pure than another, then we must truly break Father’s heart. For if Christ be in us, then what are we actually saying? That Christ in us is not our beauty, our purity, our righteousness, our Life, and thus we stand upon our own. Simply, that Christ is who we should see when we look at one another and ourselves. Then, we know that we are free to be free in Christ. After all, we are free of condemnation by others and the condemnation we put upon ourselves when we look into the mirror. Kind of funny, it is like we all have mirrors of Christ in which to see ourselves. In Christ we are free to be free.
Well said sister:)
Ah, it brings tears to my eyes and makes me want to shout it from the rooftops- Jesus is my Perfection! He is ALL I need.
Shout it sister, the song was written for you!
Wow Jamal, I really need to hear this today. It is hard sometimes to believe He sees us as perfect and beautiful, when we don’t feel that way. I haven’t been feeling that way a lot lately. Thanks for the reminder.
Pam,
I understand completely. Just keep listening to this over and over. The song is about you. Eventually this truth will permeate to the depths of your heart and you will continue to walk in greater and greater levels of freedom. Blessings to you sister:)
This is such a beautiful message to a very beautiful woman… I have a friend who today, doesn’t feel she is worth anything. I want to send this to her, However, this lady friend is a woman who is bald on the top of her head… and can and does have a full blown beard… She is the sweetest thing you could ever meet and come to know… how would one present this message to her, when the world doesn’t think so, and for one, why God would allow her to in the worlds view look like a freak. She is a Christian, attends ‘church’… But what does one say? What does one do? I love her just the way she is… But she has to deal with herself 24-7
Angie, thanks for your comment. I’m convinced that if we could just catch a glimpse of how the Lord sees us, our minds would be blown. Christ permeates our entire being, and He is beautiful. We would never doubt our own beauty if we could see ourselves supernaturally through His eyes. All fear and doubt in every area of our lives would flee.
Seeing ourselves in this manner flows from a supernatural revelation of Jesus Christ. May the Lord give your friend a revelation of Jesus Christ:)
Removing our sin consciousnesses has to be one of the most difficult things to do especially for the churched.But with God all is possible. Those that worship Him in spirit and REALITY will begin to see ourselves as He does. THNX God!
Very true Vinny:)
As He is so are we in this world: God’s Beloved. Excellent post Jamal.
Thx for reading Lisa, it’s great to hear from you. I’ll be in your neck of the woods soon. Maybe we can connect again. Blessings to you:)
That would be great Jamal, let me know. God bless you too.
Jamal,
Wow! Absolutely beautiful! An awe inspiring revelation of how the Lord sees His bride. What a Christ!
Great to read words of life, thankyou – Graeme
The beauty of our Lord. Awesome Brother
what a beautiful revelation, i can share the song with its deeper meaning with my christian gathering in our house church
1
Thanks Jamal for writing this, is needed.
I had an experience very recently where I was made to feel a tiny glimpse of what the Lord feels when we don’t see ourselves with His eyes, which is who we really are, whole, complete, and beautiful.
I have a beautiful 10 year old daughter. Her name is Gloria. When she was about 3 years old, we became concerned for her, as she was not progressing with her talking. We tested for her development and she was diagnosed with language delays receptive/expressive. Having gone through some intense emotional suffering for some years prior to this in my life, her diagnoses really broke my heart. We started on a journey to help her, and by the grace of God, we saw tremendous progress as she continued to grow. She was placed in language therapies, reading programs at the very young age and continued to progress. The best therapy of all for her is the love of the Lord, given to her through us and many other ways. She was and is showered with love, care and affection, and she continued to grow up as a happy little girl. To make the long story short, just before the school ended this year, two days before, she was very sad. She told me she did not want to go to school any more and did not want to open up to me. Being concerned, I insisted that she tell me, and she started to open up, telling me that a boy in her class had offended her that day, during a field day, when they were playing various games, and that this boy had bullied her some other times during that year. She burst into tears and started to tell me how tired she is with herself of feeling inadequate and not measuring up.
I wanted to burst into tears more that she did, but tried to hold it inside. I told her that all that stuff is not true, that she is beautiful, smart, kind, that she has done great in school, on and on I went. But she would not listen at that moment. I stayed with her for a long time in her bed talking to her and comforting her. After awhile I said to her, why would you believe some lies about you, and not believe what mami and daddy who love you so much tell you, which is the truth? I said to myself, if only she could see with my eyes. And in that very moment the Lord spoke into my heart and said, can you feel what I feel, can you feel how my heart breaks for my children the same way. Words with fail me to express how real I felt the heart of the Lord at that moment. I said, yes Lord I do, in e very real way right now, thank you for giving me this experience ,although is very painful to go through this. Help me Lord to not take my eyes off You, off Your Son, he is my mirror, I see myself complete, perfect, beautiful, that’s who I am. Thank you Lord for your awesome love, you have placed me in your Son and that’s where I am, one with Him, and it doesn’t matter what my flesh would say and what the enemy would want me to believe, I trust You, I am complete, beautiful and holy.
Thanks again for writing this Jamal, without knowing our true identity is impossible to live and walk in freedom.
I love this story Marsela, what a fitting way to add weight to Jamal’s blog!
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For a our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Paul of Tarsus
The last line,”For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” we see our selves, and are prone to see not what we truly are “in Christ” but our human existence, with all of its physical limitations. Yet the good news is this is not who we are. We are the treasure, the passion, the bride of Christ. This is our unseen, yet eternal beauty, therefore we are obligated to encourage, love, admonish, and serve one another with this perspective.
There is such liberty in this truth, may we move forward with this amazing and beautiful life we have together in Christ.
Thanks brother. The lord gave me this same word last night as i was praying with some brothers. i guess he gave me more of the paternal aspect of it though. Abba is as pleased with us as he is ever gonna be and couldn’t love us more because we have entered His Son and are now his Children.
Beautiful, Jamal! Just beautiful! We as humans are so short-sighted. We are the fullness of Christ who fills all in all. He sees His own beauty within us. How can we be anything but beautiful when we are in Christ?
Jamal,
The reality of this story can be compared with something like this. The greatest artist, finishing his master piece and staring and admiring it. He can’t take His eyes off of her. Wow is sooo good! Like the shadow picture when God finished the creation and said “ it is good” and rested. At Gethsemane, the true reality, He cried “ It is finished” . She is head to toe his masterpiece. She was conceived in the longing of love and formed in the labor of blood and tears. She is pretty darn beautiful! She may straggle with seeing that for a while, but if she will never come to see how beautiful she is, how would she be able to see and understand that the artist that made her is the greatest of all? The Lord sees His beauty in her.So the way she sees herself is the way she sees and regards the Lord. She can never have the highest view of Him if she doesn’t have the highest view of herself,(not in her flesh, for she has nothing to boast). And the degree of her regard for Him, will be the degree of her pursuing Him. And we know what He said, ”not the look warm, but the hot”.
Marsela,
Great insight! I love what you said about the way she sees herself. The way she sees herself is actually the way that she sees her Lord. After all, we carry and express His very own image! The bride and the Bridegroom cannot be seperated. Thanks for sharing.
Yes I hear Him LOUD AND CLEAR, very powerful analogy and tool this song and video are. Thanks bro, going to share this wherever I go. Love in Him, David