“Blind as a bat” is an old cliché that most of us have heard, but that is not the vision problem that restricts most Christians—tunnel vision is the more common affliction. Like blinders on a horse, our view of what we can become is narrowed by a focus on what we have been.

We need to forget what I like to call LBC or Life Before Christ, and focus on the potential of what we can become in Jesus.

Any woodworker, silversmith, or potter will know what I mean when I say “potential.” These craftsmen can see an ordinary piece of wood, rock, or clay and see its potential to become something new. They have the same gift as Michael Angelo who said: “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

Paul tried to explain this concept to the Ephesians when he said: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).” Wow! His “workmanship!” His piece of art!

Instead of limiting yourself with an LBC mindset, begin to believe that God sees the potential within you and He has gifted you in a special way. At the instant you became one of His children, you were blessed with eyes of faith to claim His promises, strength for the journey, and the mind of Christ.

A favorite verse of mine is 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Paul did not allow an LBC focus to mold his life: “This one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14).”

If you’re like me, you may not be much of an artist, but I still know that I’m a piece of art, and like Paul, “I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).”