Reduced

I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it. Maya Angelou

When I taught fifth grade math, I explained reducing fractions by saying, 'It's just like when your mom goes on a diet. She has reduced, but she still has the same value. She is still exactly your mom.' Because most children have watched their mothers go through a process of dieting, they could better understand the concept of having a mathematical entity that appeared smaller but was exactly the same.

Maya Angelou is saying something similar. The experiences of life can alter our present circumstances, our future prospects, our temporary outlook, but they cannot diminish who we really are, for who we really are is who we are in the inner man, who we are in the essence of our self-hood, who we are in Christ. In the heart of who we are, we are being molded and shaped by His loving hand to be in conformity with who He is.

The underlying truth of Philippians 2:5 is that Christ was so secure in who He was—in who He is as the Second Member of the Trinity—that He did not experience any diminishing of Himself when He allowed Himself to be reduced to being a mere man. Because He knew His eternal plan was unfolding, because He knew His role in it, He did not feel emptied by the experience. Though He made Himself of no reputation (Philippians 2:7) His self-hood remained intact. That is always His ultimate end in allowing us to experience the bitter and disappointing aspects of life. It is not to diminish us, but to make us a more useful, functional version of our self.

As we attain that end, we recognize that we are becoming more like Him! Just as a large fraction is cumbersome and difficult to work with, our lives are awkward until He has applied His heavenly math to us and reduced us to the lowest denominator. Then we have much more ability to do the simplified math accurately. In order for the next chapter of our lives to be holy and wholly His, we need to function at the level of efficiency that Heaven's reducing process can supply for us. We will have the same value in His eyes, but we will be more pliable in His hand. We will be transformed, reduced to be more functional toward His purposes.