Is it normal for people…

How often do we compare ourselves to other people? We question whether something is normal based on what other people do, but the truth is, we need to define who we are based on only two things: God and ourselves. Of course, this is easy enough to talk about, but how do we actually start living this way? How do we shed the layers of protection we have accumulated over the years? I think about the video we watched at the last Rock and I think how easy they made it look to take off a t-shirt, and I think that in life it’s not actually that easy. But then I think about taking off one layer and that isn’t so difficult. I’m okay with taking off one shirt, it’s when I am stripped and wearing nothing that I really start to get uncomfortable. In order to get rid of my layers I must first recognize what they are. I cannot take off a shirt if I don’t know I’m wearing it. So start today by looking at what the different identities you hide behind are because until you are aware of them you cannot start to take them off. But don’t stop there, if you stop there nothing changes. Start by taking off one of the layers. And then keep taking them off. I’m not going to lie here, everyone from pre-school to your grandparents struggles with this. I find that often when I take off one layer, when I stop hiding behind one thing another thing comes in and takes its place. But that doesn’t mean it’s okay for me to stop trying. I think of Jacob wrestling with the angel. I don’t know about you, but when I think of wrestling I don’t think of something that’s easy and painless, I think of something intense and difficult, and usually the person winning changes regularly. Before we can embrace who we are as individuals and as Christians, we will spend a lot of time wrestling with our layers, and sometimes we may be winning, but then the tide will turn and we’ll be on the losing side. But we have the assurance that in this fight we aren’t alone and the ultimate victory has already been won, and our complete victory lies ahead. So, don’t run from who you are, but don’t hide behind layers that don’t really define you, don’t hide behind things the world says identify you. Join Jacob in the fight for embracing a new identity, you. At the end of the wrestling match when Jacob came out victorious his old name, meaning liar, deceiver, was gotten rid of, and he was given a new name, Israel- God’s chosen one. You also have a new name, Christian. Only when you are willing to give up your other names can you truly embrace this one. But hey, I’m still working on this too.

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