The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you all. Lately I have been pondering the basis of a person’s self-image. Everywhere we look, we find someone who wants to define us. Turn on the television and you encounter an endless number of advertisements that offer you a product that will impact how others perceive you. Listen to pollsters and data collectors and you will learn a whole array of categorizes and demographics used to define you. Spend time talking with individuals in different avenues of your life and some of them will be more than happy to offer you labels that they use to define who you are. All of these thoughts have caused me to wonder what the Lord might say when asked to define us as individuals.
I believe that the starting statement that the Lord would make when asked who someone is would be: “This is a child of mine.” The basis that I have for this is what we find in Galatians 4:4-7, “[4] But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, [5] in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. [6] And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" [7] So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.” For me, this needs to be the starting point as we strive to define ourselves. One of the key words in this statement is the word “child”. It reminds me that I am still growing, still learning, still making mistakes, still striving to mature into what the Lord created me to be. This statement also reminds me that above anything else, the Lord seems me as one in a family. I belong to God and am accepted by God exactly as I am.
If we accept that we are first and foremost a child of the Lord’s then any other definitions become totally created by humans. The distinctions seem to fall away. Again, I turn to Galatians in regards to this point: “[26] for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. [27] As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. [28] There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. [29] And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:26-29) It is clear that the human distinctions and labels that are created carry no weight in the Lord’s definition of who we are.
So when we strive to define ourselves and the image we project, I believe that it is vital that we strive to live out the image that the Lord sees and defines for us. As a wise person often tells me, “Just because someone calls you a chair, does that make you a chair?” Live out what the Lord calls you!!!
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