Hey everyone, I hope you have been having a lovely week! Today’s newsletter is written by one of our community members who has shared a beautiful reminder of what it means to have an identity in Christ:
I had the privilege of chatting with a girl a couple of week ago who recently came to faith. She spoke of God with such childlike passion and love for Him that it touched me deeply. She mentioned that she is still learning to read the bible, and more importantly navigating her identity in Christ.
That is when I again just realised what the very foundation of knowing Jesus is - our identity that is rooted solely in Him.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
Often we complicate our lives, or what we think of ourselves, as the world constantly encourages us to find our identity in achievements and successes and more than ever we are confronted with unrealistic expectations and pressures to keep up with the people around us.
Believing the above can be so taxing and stressful and it challenges me on a daily basis.
That is why it is so important to understand that our identity is rooted not in what we do, but rather in what God has already done for us out of pure grace and love - the essence of our faith: Jesus Christ crucified on the cross.
In the Old testament we see God is in control and that simply taking the time to be still and stand firm in Him will be enough. The Israelites fled from Egypt and when they were in distress Moses had to reassure his people that the Lord will make a way.
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
To be still in God is an act of surrendering our pride. It is to recognise that His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
Stillness is not something passive, rather intentionally letting go of our desires to have a deeper, stronger relationship with Him. We no longer have to fight battles alone when we fully put our trust in God.
In the New testament we come across yet another example - We must stand firm in God, but also not chase the approval of human beings.
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. “
“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Essentially what these scriptures are saying is that we are called to be witnesses of the true gospel. God does not want us to be led astray by fleshly doubts and His reminder to us it that we should devote our lives to honour God not people.
“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,”
We don’t deserve God’s grace and we cannot earn it either. We cannot work harder or work less to be loved by God. Who we are is what God says we are: His children.
Next time you are struggling to be still in God or doubting your true identity, try to ask yourself these questions:
⁃ Who or what am I listening to?
⁃ Are they lies or are they truths?
⁃ Do these thoughts honouring God or humans?
⁃ Straying from God is normal, but am I reverting back to my faith in God each time I start questioning my identity?
I hope you found today’s newsletter as inspiring and comforting as I did.
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I hope you have a good rest of your week and we’ll chat again soon x
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