How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”
1 John 3:1, NIV
As we wind down the year and look forward to 2019, our church continues to aspire to being Authentic, Intentional and Missional.
In my recent reflection on what it means to be an authentic person, I was reminded about a popular children’s book written by Dr Seuss titled “Happy Birthday to You!”, which has these choice lines:
Today you are you, that is truer than true.
There is no one alive who is you-er than you.
Shout aloud, I am glad to be what I am!
I believe that one of the aims of this story is to build a healthy self-esteem in the child. It is certainly true that our Creator God makes each human being unique.
However, it is my observation that we are now living in a time when humanity is suffering from identity crisis. Lacking a relationship with (and even a knowledge of) God our loving heavenly Father, many people grow up plagued by insecurities, deep loneliness and rage against the Universe. We are desperate for affirmation and love, and many suffer from self-esteem and psychiatric dysphoria. There are even people who look for love in all the wrong places and try to construct their own identities.
The balm for this crisis of identity is to know and relate to God as our heavenly Father. This is indeed the highest calling of every human being; our “original self” as it were. Those of us who have received reconciliation with the Father through Jesus Christ, know what we are sons and daughters of the Most High King. Grounded in this identity, we can walk in wholeness and help bring the gospel of reconciliation and healing to those around us.
It is a wonderful and precious thing to know that we are God’s own beloved children. Since this is really who we are, there is no need to engage in identity construction. May the Lord reveal and deepen this truth to us each day, so that the gospel can be powerfully proclaimed in our lives.
By Aaron Lee, Elder (YCKC Bulletin 18 November 2018)