Copyright by Shea Oakley<\/p>\n
All rights reserved<\/p>\n
Many of us experienced great personal pain in our lives before coming to Christ. During that time we may have taken on ideas about the nature of who we are as individuals that need to be divinely corrected before we can enter into the true life that Christ has promised we will experience as we follow Him. God\u2019s greater reality sometimes needs to replace our idea of reality, an interpretation of our lives warped by other\u2019s sins against us and our own sinful response. We all have a story that we consider our own, but it may be that our place in God\u2019s redemptive Story needs to replace it. Our very ability to make sense of the past, live in the present and hope for the future can depend on letting our Lord re-interpret our lives for us in this way.<\/p>\n
From a theological perspective we are, of course, called to believe that God\u2019s view of us is the most accurate one possible. His Word declares that He created us and, in his omniscience, He knows us better than we know ourselves. As a perfect being God\u2019s understanding of who we are is absolute and thus absolutely accurate. <\/p>\n
However the fact that this is what we are called to believe does not mean we actually believe it. All too often our self-image is forged in imperfect relationships with other imperfect human beings. Whether these others are parents, siblings, peers or romantic partners, the common denominator is that they are fallen people just like we are, and fallen people often wound one another. Such wounds, and the resentment to which they often lead, can distort our view of who we ultimately are and keep us from realizing our identity in Christ. The result is a spiritually and emotionally stunted life, one that does not fully glorify God and benefit both ourselves and others.<\/p>\n
The answer to such a dilemma can only be found in allowing our Redeemer to literally \u201cre-write\u201d the story of our lives in such a way that his true vision of who we are progressively replaces our untrue one. This occurs as we learn to submit every aspect of our hearts and minds to Him. The replacement of our faulty self-identity with the eternal identity of a child of God is a vital function of sanctification. It comes as we earnestly seek God through the life-changing disciplines of the Christian life, disciplines like prayer, meditation, and worship. As such it does not take place overnight for most of us, but it can and will happen as we enter into deeper intimacy with the Lover of our souls.<\/p>\n
In the end we will come to realize that who we thought ourselves to be pales in comparison with who God has made us to be. One of the greatest joys of Heaven will be the full realization that we have been uniquely remade in the perfect image of Christ, and set free to be like Him in every way our supremely loving Father intended from before we were born, in fact from before time itself began.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Copyright by Shea Oakley All rights reserved Many of us experienced great personal pain in our lives before coming to Christ. During that time we may have taken on ideas about the nature of who we are as individuals that need to be divinely corrected before we can enter into the true life that Christ… <\/p>\n