Big thanks to Cath and Kev who reminded us last week of the importance of knowing who we are. It’s one of the most fundamental questions that most of us spend our entire lives never really answering, and so we end up living the greatest lie of all – being who we’re not, or at least attempting to define ourselves by all the wrong parameters, such as our employment status, material possessions, current circumstances, health, peer group, physical appearance, or other cultural ‘norms’.
Men in particular, though not exclusively, are happier defining themselves in terms of their occupation – the first question at a social gathering of strangers likely to be ‘so what do you do?’
‘Am I enough?’ is the unspoken question that aches deeply in the heart of many in a culture that values the add-ons so highly. Am I enough to be accepted, valued, desired, without my make-up, designer clothes, well-paid job, nice house, sporting achievements, ‘six-pack’ abs, witty banter, intellectually stimulating stories, drunken antics, heroic tales, great vision and plans for the future etc etc?
To our heavenly Father you are more than enough. You don’t have to impress him with your deeds or appearance. He already loves you and desires you as much as he ever will without any add-ons. He made you well, and he likes what he made. You are his little boy or little girl and you don’t have to pretend to be anything other than that. You don’t need to worry about the future, nor regret whatever your past has been like. The Father sent his own child Jesus to heal and redeem (make good out of bad) your past, enable you to live in His amazing love and care and guidance today, and, if you continue to let Him take care of you, assure you of a glorious future.
That is who you are, a child of God. That will never change. Your only choice is whether to return home to the Father to live in His provision, guidance and care, to learn again what it is to be a child – or to continue to make your own painful way in life, defining yourself or being defined by the ever-changing circumstances of life. As for me, I’ve come home, and I’m learning the joy and peace of being the child of the most wonderful Father.
Men in particular, though not exclusively, are happier defining themselves in terms of their occupation – the first question at a social gathering of strangers likely to be ‘so what do you do?’
‘Am I enough?’ is the unspoken question that aches deeply in the heart of many in a culture that values the add-ons so highly. Am I enough to be accepted, valued, desired, without my make-up, designer clothes, well-paid job, nice house, sporting achievements, ‘six-pack’ abs, witty banter, intellectually stimulating stories, drunken antics, heroic tales, great vision and plans for the future etc etc?
To our heavenly Father you are more than enough. You don’t have to impress him with your deeds or appearance. He already loves you and desires you as much as he ever will without any add-ons. He made you well, and he likes what he made. You are his little boy or little girl and you don’t have to pretend to be anything other than that. You don’t need to worry about the future, nor regret whatever your past has been like. The Father sent his own child Jesus to heal and redeem (make good out of bad) your past, enable you to live in His amazing love and care and guidance today, and, if you continue to let Him take care of you, assure you of a glorious future.
That is who you are, a child of God. That will never change. Your only choice is whether to return home to the Father to live in His provision, guidance and care, to learn again what it is to be a child – or to continue to make your own painful way in life, defining yourself or being defined by the ever-changing circumstances of life. As for me, I’ve come home, and I’m learning the joy and peace of being the child of the most wonderful Father.