By David ReayTuesday 4 Jul 2017LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (NIV)
We so often hear people saying that they must be who they are. They will not change, they must be themselves: “I’ve gotta be me!”
In one sense this is reasonable. We want to be authentic and not be the creature of others’ expectations. We want to be honest about who we are.
But in another sense it is all wrong. As our text reminds us, our lives are no longer ours to live as independent entities. We have in a sense ‘died’ to ungodly ways of living, in that we are not helplessly bound to our old life. So simply asserting we are who we are is a half-truth. God has indeed made us unique, but he has also made us to be changed into the people he created us to be: more like Jesus.
It is perhaps better to say that we are to be our true, best self. Simply telling the world that we can’t help being insensitive or frantically overbusy or lazy is a cop-out. Acceptance of our uniqueness, being authentic, does not mean ignoring the need to change where and when required.
Being ourselves is a mixed blessing. None of us is as he or she ought to be. Being ourselves can bring both harm and help to others. Being more and more like Jesus is bound to bring only blessing.
Blessings
David Reay