Jesus said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Mark 13:31).

A study out of Beijing was titled “Neural Consequences of Religious Belief on Self-Referential Processing.” I know, fun title, right?

Anyway, the idea was this. Non-religious people used one of part of their brain to evaluate themselves and another part of their brain to evaluate others. It was as if there was a different scoring system.

But Christians used the same part of their brain to evaluate both themselves and others. Researchers speculated about why this might be the case. They wondered about a kind of ‘Jesus reference point’ for evaluating both themselves and others.

I think that’s a very powerful idea. When we are being thoughtful and genuine as disciples of Jesus, we are seeking to evaluate our lives not based on what others think, or even based upon our own wants and desires, but upon what God thinks.

Ultimately, this can liberate us from going with the crowd when the crowd is going off the rails, and even from thinking too much or too little about ourselves. It’s clarity in the fog.

The ‘Jesus reference point’ brings us back to what and who matters most, and encourages us to organize our attitudes and priorities around Jesus.

It liberates you, gives you more peace, and grows your contentment.

Are you facing a decision? Do you have a problem to solve? Are you unsure about how to sculpt the next six months of your life?

Jesus is the King of consistency. He is always good, always right, and always the best. As you walk through your day, and as you mature through your life, let him be your reference point. 

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Notes:

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.