I just watched a great video by Justin Slocum Bailey: "You are not those things." It was so simple yet so profound. You are not what people say about you, what people do to you, your job performance, your relationships, you are not those things.
He ends with I cannot tell you what you ARE, but you are not those things.
As I opened my bible for my morning quiet time with the words of that video from the night before still ringing in my head, I was in 2 Corinthians 5, which as God would have it, tells me what I AM.
I am a new creation (5:17)
I am sought after by God (5:18)
I am His ambassador (5:20)
I am the righteousness of God (5:21)
I am God's coworker (6:1)
I am the temple of the Living God (6:16)
These are not things I earned, given conditionally if I'm "good enough" or do enough. Paul makes that clear in 5:18:
All of this is a gift from our Creator God, who has pursued us and brought us into a restored and healthy relationship with Him through the Anointed.
All of those things that I AM are not erasable based on someone else's opinion or my own failings. They are my true identity. As though Paul is responding to Justin's video, he also talks of public opinion and the world's view of us as so flippant, praising, criticizing, loathing, respecting, yet we have the power of God and His voice of truth in our ear (6:7-8). Because we know what and who we are, whether we are dying, poor, sorrowful, mistreated, we live joyfully, bringing riches to others and have more than we need (6:10).
This was too beautiful of a lesson not to share - Justin's video, then the scripture to round it out. But it turns out God's lesson for me wasn't finished yet.
Despite all of this encouragement and peace that I received, in the car on the way to school, thoughts started to swirl in my mind. Worries. Doubts. Fears. Negative self talk. Wanting to nip it in the bud, I plugged my phone into the speaker and clicked on YouTube. I couldn't really see (I just got new contacts, which turns out were completely wrong!), so I just clicked on a random video. The following beautiful song, by a group I had never heard before began to play and fill my soul. It is called "My Worth is not in What I own."
What a beautiful reminder of my true worth- not in my skill, name, wealth, fame, beauty, wisdom, but in Jesus. I knew then that God was not done reaching out to me yet, He was rounding out the perfect lesson He had just for me.
Sometimes I think my problems are insignificant, no big deal. But identity is CORE. So God didn't mess around on this one. He appealed to my mind with Justin's message, then my spirit with the verses in 2 Corinthians, then my heart with the song. He unmistakably and specifically provided everything I needed to know, be and feel, based on truth. And that is the way He works - incredibly specifically and individually, loving His children uniquely.
Though it is so clear now, I am fairly sure I will need this lesson again. And again. And again. But that is okay because He knows it and is gentle and loving to give it each time I need it.
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