Identity
Hello hello.
I haven't posted a blog in a couple of months. Honestly, I just haven't known what to write about. So much has been going on, has gone on, continues to go on. I have started to write about 100 times and then hit delete. I have had things I wanted to write about but would get started and then lost my momentum. It is what it is. I love to write but I know there are times where getting the words out and having them make sense just doesn't happen. And I'm okay with that.
Last week I lead my first ever bible study! The study is on healing from divorce. I'm still unsure as to who thought I was qualified to lead this but hey... obviously someone believes in me! I'll take it! Our first meeting was more of a get to know you sorta thing. It's crazy to see the similarities between different women. We are all different ages, stages, etc but we all connected instantly. And that my friends is God at work.
Tonight's bible study lesson is going to be about shock and identity. Coming to terms with the idea that your marriage is over is a huge shock for most. And it doesn't even have to be a marriage, it can be a long term relationship or even a friendship. When a relationship is forced to end, it hurts and it can send you into a tail spin. But shock isn't really what I want to talk about...
I'd like to chat about identity. Identity is who you are. What makes you "you." When you get divorced, almost over night you go from husband/wife to being single. I don't remember that being as traumatic as all of a sudden, I was a single mom. That one stung a little. And it still stings. I never wanted to be a single mom. But there has been a huge amount of strength that has come from my time as a single mom and I'm grateful. Although I am COMPLETELY over it ... but if being a single mother is what God has called me to do, then I have and will continue to do my best.
Last night as I got to thinking about identity, I also started thinking about our identity from an eternal perspective. The world has such a cruel way of forcing us to identify ourselves. We're skinny or fat. Single or taken. Famous or not famous. Gay or straight. Rich or poor. Popular or not popular. Healthy or unhealthy. It never ends. And when your identity becomes made up of lots of negative stuff, it can be really easy to start to just pick yourself apart. For me... I'm a single mom, who also has MS, who also has PTSD, got hit by a semi truck... like excuse me while I go jump of a bridge!
But... how often do you get identified as a son or daughter of God? Better yet, how often do you identify yourself as a child of God?
Among all the ways we identify ourselves, our identity within Christ should be most important. That is the only source of identity that has been a constant our whole lives. I will always be a beloved daughter of God. And that will never change. I can be married, single, a Christian, a non believer, a working mom etc. Those parts of me will continue to evolve. But my identity in the Lord will always be the same. Even if I choose to deny Him, He will still choose to love me.
That's pretty incredible if you ask me.
So why do we soak up so much of what the world thinks we should be? I'm just as guilty of this as anyone else. Social media has played a huge part in creating a false sense of identity within the world today. Our happiness depends on how many likes we get. How many friend requests we get. How good our selfies are. But at the end of this life, when we are standing at the feet of Jesus, do you think he's gonna say "Yes girl come on into heaven because you had such a great Instagram account." HECK NO Y'ALL. He's gonna want to see what we did to glorify Him. He is gonna want to see if we sought out ways to make His love known. He is gonna want to know if we identified with the world or if we chose to identify ourselves wholeheartedly as one of God's children.
Which are you? Are you spending your days soaking up the love of complete strangers on social media? Are you living a life that looks good on the outside but doesn't have much depth on the inside? Or are you soaking up God's words everyday, striving to be more like Him, reaching out to those that are desperate to know Him like He should be known?
I encourage you to really think about this. I sure am. And I have realized just how off balance my Word vs. World reality is. So much of my days are spent living for this world. And that isn't making me feel good. Being a girl of this world is not who God wants me to be. This world is a freakin hotel. It's a temporary home. But eternity? Y'all that is home. And that is where I want to be. So that is what I am gonna start living for.
Goodnight sweet friends!
Xoxo
Jess
I haven't posted a blog in a couple of months. Honestly, I just haven't known what to write about. So much has been going on, has gone on, continues to go on. I have started to write about 100 times and then hit delete. I have had things I wanted to write about but would get started and then lost my momentum. It is what it is. I love to write but I know there are times where getting the words out and having them make sense just doesn't happen. And I'm okay with that.
Last week I lead my first ever bible study! The study is on healing from divorce. I'm still unsure as to who thought I was qualified to lead this but hey... obviously someone believes in me! I'll take it! Our first meeting was more of a get to know you sorta thing. It's crazy to see the similarities between different women. We are all different ages, stages, etc but we all connected instantly. And that my friends is God at work.
Tonight's bible study lesson is going to be about shock and identity. Coming to terms with the idea that your marriage is over is a huge shock for most. And it doesn't even have to be a marriage, it can be a long term relationship or even a friendship. When a relationship is forced to end, it hurts and it can send you into a tail spin. But shock isn't really what I want to talk about...
I'd like to chat about identity. Identity is who you are. What makes you "you." When you get divorced, almost over night you go from husband/wife to being single. I don't remember that being as traumatic as all of a sudden, I was a single mom. That one stung a little. And it still stings. I never wanted to be a single mom. But there has been a huge amount of strength that has come from my time as a single mom and I'm grateful. Although I am COMPLETELY over it ... but if being a single mother is what God has called me to do, then I have and will continue to do my best.
Last night as I got to thinking about identity, I also started thinking about our identity from an eternal perspective. The world has such a cruel way of forcing us to identify ourselves. We're skinny or fat. Single or taken. Famous or not famous. Gay or straight. Rich or poor. Popular or not popular. Healthy or unhealthy. It never ends. And when your identity becomes made up of lots of negative stuff, it can be really easy to start to just pick yourself apart. For me... I'm a single mom, who also has MS, who also has PTSD, got hit by a semi truck... like excuse me while I go jump of a bridge!
But... how often do you get identified as a son or daughter of God? Better yet, how often do you identify yourself as a child of God?
Among all the ways we identify ourselves, our identity within Christ should be most important. That is the only source of identity that has been a constant our whole lives. I will always be a beloved daughter of God. And that will never change. I can be married, single, a Christian, a non believer, a working mom etc. Those parts of me will continue to evolve. But my identity in the Lord will always be the same. Even if I choose to deny Him, He will still choose to love me.
That's pretty incredible if you ask me.
So why do we soak up so much of what the world thinks we should be? I'm just as guilty of this as anyone else. Social media has played a huge part in creating a false sense of identity within the world today. Our happiness depends on how many likes we get. How many friend requests we get. How good our selfies are. But at the end of this life, when we are standing at the feet of Jesus, do you think he's gonna say "Yes girl come on into heaven because you had such a great Instagram account." HECK NO Y'ALL. He's gonna want to see what we did to glorify Him. He is gonna want to see if we sought out ways to make His love known. He is gonna want to know if we identified with the world or if we chose to identify ourselves wholeheartedly as one of God's children.
Which are you? Are you spending your days soaking up the love of complete strangers on social media? Are you living a life that looks good on the outside but doesn't have much depth on the inside? Or are you soaking up God's words everyday, striving to be more like Him, reaching out to those that are desperate to know Him like He should be known?
I encourage you to really think about this. I sure am. And I have realized just how off balance my Word vs. World reality is. So much of my days are spent living for this world. And that isn't making me feel good. Being a girl of this world is not who God wants me to be. This world is a freakin hotel. It's a temporary home. But eternity? Y'all that is home. And that is where I want to be. So that is what I am gonna start living for.
Goodnight sweet friends!
Xoxo
Jess
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