When You Know Who You Are (Part 2 of 2)
Please, read part one here!
The other night, I was ecstatic to finally share my heart on identity and the crisis we too often find ourselves in. The pressure we allow culture to apply, the problem of wrapping who we are around what we are doing: learning (student), careering (making money), being a spouse (accepted or rejected), and so many other things! We forget who we are, maybe some of us don't even know, and we wear a facade in hopes to come across as whatever we think is best to be! When we forget who we are, we easily put on a mask (even to ourselves!) of self-sufficiency, stepping all over other people and viewing everyone else as a problem. We suffer from high amounts of stress, anxiety, and un-admittedly the fear of rejection. Don't you want to rid of these things?
You are more. We are more. (Please keep reading). I am a precious and lovable human, a child of the utmost King, the Creator of this entire earth! I am seen as worth-it, acceptable, and clean because of Jesus and His undying, unfailing love for me. And so are you! You are a son or daughter, held in the arms of a caring Father and He only wants to wipe your tears and fears away. We can LAUGH without fear, when we know who we are! It is empowering.
When we walk in the assurance of grace, in the dignity that Christ has bought for us all, we can move mountains. We can change lives. It always starts and continues with this: Knowing Who I Am. Knowing who you are. You are loved. There are issues I have (and you can!) conquered because of Jesus, because of knowing who I am in HIS eyes:
When we know who we are, we are miraculously stabilized and no longer are offended when someone is different from us. We no longer get annoyed if someone is our opposite, but instead we embrace them and even hope the best for them. We aren't thrown off balance when someone criticizes.
It's ironic, but the titles, positions, and jobs that we so easily wrap our identity around...we get BETTER at them when we wrap who we are around Jesus! We flourish in all things, more than we could have dreamed to muster on our own. It's amazing! When I view myself as holy, precious, and pleasing to Jesus, as his daughter, I no longer carry shame and anxiety, and my work improves, my wifery improves, even my resting improves!
When I know that I am beloved, that I am dear to Jesus heart, I have peace to rest and not fill my calendar to the brim, stretching my exhaustion so thin. I have peace that makes no sense, and I am able to freely to sit and sip coffee. I have the freedom to pause the newsletter (or any task) in order to listen to a tired stranger I just met in Starbucks - this happened yesterday. I have the assurance that I am still loved and still accepted, when my boss or husband projects disappointment. They don't give me value or worth! I have joy when everything around me - my income, my cupboards, my friends - shouts panic. I can relax and soak in the blue sky, noting that it's a gift from my Dad, my Father in Heaven. I can have patience when the eggs are dropped all over the floor (I do this tri-weekly). I can be genuine in my love when I run into someone who has deeply hurt me. I can take delight in honoring others, in uplifting them and building them up instead of using them as a footstool {to get to the next level of achievement}. Instead of bashing and gossiping against them. You don't have to be jealous of your friends new car, her amazing home, or his paycheck. I am no longer jealous of Emily's long legs, Haley's amazing hair, and Heather's gift of cooking but instead I am moved to thank God for creating the most beautifully spirited people I know! And that I get to be in their life, and they in mine.
Pressure is removed and we are invited to rest in the assurance of grace. We are invited to walk with dignity, knowing we are accepted right now in the eyes of our Dad. Our King, Savior, Creator, Friend.
What is best, is that I no longer view people as problems, as mere issues in my life. AND THIS BRINGS FREEDOM! I am not caught up with the anxiety of being annoyed, the exhaustion of bitterness or critical judgement. I don't see people as nuisances in my life...not even the man in front of me at Winco who is taking forever and a day to pay or the lady glaring from the cash register, clearly unhappy about life. No, no longer do I get offended over such minute things, if anything! But instead I see people with LIFE. I see every human being, strolling this earth, as precious and valuable. I want the best for them. I see them as royalty: as the King of kings son or daughter! I see them as worth it. Worth my patience, kindness, and time. And I ache for them to Know Who They Are. But more than I in any of these things, that's what Jesus wants too. He wants you to know He accepts you and loves you as His own child. A deeper love than I could even try to explain.
Walk in the assurance of who you are, and change this world by reminding one person at a time who they are.
If you agree with these thoughts and this critical idea, please share or reblog this link! This message is from more than me - it is from the heart of Jesus. I ache for all of humanity to believe this message, it brings freedom! Really! Share this Truth with those you love. It's worth the risk of rejection.
