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"For some, church is more of a social club where it is good to be seen rather than a place where relationship is the key."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 73.
People are such a predictable lot. We tend to gravitate to those we feel comfortable with. We like to be like those who we respect and look up to. We want to blend in in ways that doesn't make us seem out of place or out of touch. So many of us spend way too much time stressing about what others think and take steps to try and position ourselves to be viewed in the best light possible.
Same goes with our church attendance at times. We often look at those we might attend church services with in ways to help us feel more comfortable with who we are. So much of our life is spent dealing with issues that stem from the fact we are unsure of who we are. Worse than that, we often do, say and make decisions based on trying to make our identity something we think it needs to be in order for us to blend better into society.
I am sure that on the list of reasons God allowed church to come into existence, fitting in was pretty much at the bottom of that list. I have to imagine that God is flabbergasted at the fact that we deal with identity issues at all. He has made it pretty clear who we are. The fact that we pursue so many other things in this world, including church attendance to try and establish and maintain our identities is nothing more than a sign of our lack of trust in Him.
Look, He calls you His Child. He has gone to elaborate and costly lengths to make that identity possible. He has produced a book that has withstood the test of time that plainly says who you are. Looking to work, hobbies, status, position, family, friends, toys and even church involvement to help make your identity something you can better understand is such a blatant waste of time. He has said who you are and that needs to begin being enough for you and for me as we live out this life with our God.
That's the only thing I have found that makes any sense at all when it comes to my status as a victor God says I have. It is when I doubt who God says I am that I start to try and make the things I do, the things I'm involved in and the things I can control be all I need for proof as to who I am. It is when those things fail me in one way or another that my identity comes into question and victim thinking rears its ugly head.
Abraham was an interesting character in the Bible. He did many things that I believe stemmed from the fact that He wasn't sure He could trust what God said about his life. Then some interesting things happened that made Abraham see how trustworthy God really was. Today's Bible reading highlights what God thought about Abraham's faith in God's view of his identity.
And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. Genesis 15:6 (NLT)
Abraham believed the Lord. It took him time to be able to let that belief become all it needed to be in order for Abraham's life to make the kind of difference it has in this world. The same goes for you and for me. It is as we grow in our belief in what God says about us that we start to have the same kind of world changing power Abraham lived out in his life.
I want my life to matter. I try to make that happen by all that I do. I have also tried to make my life matter by surrounding myself with the kinds of people that I think can help me make my life matter. Both strategies have done little more than make victim thinking a real possibility for me and for the people I use to achieve my goals.
That's why I've stopped going to church for identity based reasons. I'm working on believing who God says I am and let the rest of the world be what it is suppose to be in light of the identity God has made for me. I want my life to count, like Abraham's life did. As I read today's Bible verse, the only way to do that is to have faith. Our faith in what God says about us is all we need for our lives to be all they are suppose to be.
God has made it clear. I am a victor because God sees me as His Child through the work Jesus did on the cross. With that identity firmly in my sights, I now have a real chance at making this life have the kinds of impact that will usher in permanent change. I hope you too will choose to have faith. Abandon faith in yourself and let your faith in who God says you are be all the motivation for the amazing things you will do with your life today.
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