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."
As I was dressing for the day, I looked into the mirror and the old Dionne Warwick song popped into my head "Don't Make Me Over". I was a bit stunned and wondered.....where did that come from? As I stood there, Holy Spirit began to show me how as we go through life, there are many that try to do just that. And of course, being the humans we are, most of us fight it tooth and nail. Parents try to do that with their children, a number of times to keep their child from making the same mistakes they made so they can have a better life. Some to fulfill themselves in their child for things they desired and did not achieve. Then in school, friends tend to want us to be like them in order to gain a group around them that will do as they do.....you know this is true also. But most individuals, as we grow older, want to break that shell and be who we feel we are to be, we fight to be that person. To have our own identity.
My trusty old dictionary gives the definition of identity as this: individuality; who a person is; exact likeness, sameness; state of being the same one.
Just the definition of identity gives a lot to think about! I think due to the way so many of us grew up as we came to know our Lord, giving up the identity we perceived for ourselves has put road blocks in our path to becoming like Him. Does anyone feel this? We have had years, even those of us that grew up in church.....have had years of teaching that we either rejected or objected to and developed a mind set of who we are and who we should be. Some had teaching that were so legalistic it gave a feeling of never being able to measure up to what the Lord expected of us. What we should be...who we should be....how we should be. If we were not a certain way, how could we expect to be truly accepted by the Lord, much less....be like Him? We can become captive in these thoughts.....the enemy helps this along by constantly bringing your past to mind....making you feel that who you were, that identity, is what you are and what you always will be. I know people that are wonderful people, loving the Lord, but having trouble with smoking, drinking, cursing.......they just don't seem to be able to realize that those curses can be broken.....it is not who they are!
We are not destined to be what our minds tell us. If we come to the Lord Jesus, lay our burdens before Him, confess our sins, and receive Him as Lord and Savior, He will show us who we are, who we really are....our true identity. We are the children of God, the Father. We are loved for who we are, even as we are....we have been loved since before we were born here on earth. When Jesus was on the cross, He took all our sin - yesterday's, today's, and tomorrow's. He did this so once and for all there would no longer be a barrier between us and our heavenly Father. He gave us access to our God. He filled us with His Spirit the day we accepted Him as Lord and Savior....and on that day.... our true identity became known to us. We were filled with unconditional love and grace. Mercy filled the atmosphere and the blood of Jesus cleansed us inside and out. No longer who we thought we would be......no longer the person that accepted the way things were.....but now new creations in the Christ Jesus. A newness of mind was ours. Yes, satan still tries to fill our mind with garbage but we have the Name of Jesus that we can call on instantly to defeat him with.
No longer are the confines of the past binding us, we can now walk in who we were meant to be, in the likeness of Jesus. Don't be fooled by what you see in the mirror.....look at yourself through the eyes of our Lord God.....as He sees us through Jesus. Look into the eyes of love and mercy.....see your true identity......dearest child of God.
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