Key Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5: 18-21

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Relevance

There isn't a person alive who doesn't have a double somewhere in the world—an identical person, a twin.

My 'double' is/was in Canada. I noticed him in a photo in my 20s, and scarily, he was my identical twin. I found his photo in a small magazine, then cut it out and kept it in my wallet for months to show people. Even I had to look closely to find the differences, but couldn't.  

However, due to our biblical uniqueness, not everything is identical. God made us individually, like handcrafted Swiss watches or special bone china pieces, each one specifically designed. Even babies who share a womb with others have their own private complex identification system. Despite resemblances, nothing is the same. We are uniquely made and distinct from everyone else, yet many of us experience an identity crisis. How can that be?

People can suffer a lack of knowing who exactly they are and where they fit in, and this causes them great anxiety, from primary school all the way through to adulthood and old age. 

When we are unsure of our identity and are not entirely certain about who we are, we often struggle to find our place. This causes us to morph into someone we are not. We act out as persons who are not our real selves.

The sense of lostness is especially difficult when one is raised in a dysfunctional or damaged environment—and I don't mean 'poor,' as conflict-ridden conditions are present in homes of all socio-economic demographics. Some try to find their identity in drugs, alcohol and toxic relationships, all of which have savage endings. 

Coming to Christ doesn't always fix the problem, either. It can and should, but our actions can still reveal a lack of foundational peace, causing us to struggle to fit into Christ's family as well. That's because we still haven't settled our identity issue.

What do I mean by identity? Not everyone has a sense of belonging, even within their own families. Some do, but many don't. This can occur due to various life incidents. Even something as simple as moving to a new address as a child can distort your sense of identity, producing anxiety, trauma and even depression. These factors can all impact our self-perception and how we view our place in society. Internally, hidden conflict still remains.

Identity is a part of our taproot of faith, the foundation that ensures our spiritual house is built on solid ground. To know where we are going, we must resolve from where we have come and, perhaps more importantly, how we got to where we are now. By analysing our history and accepting how life has treated us, allowing for all our experiences — both good and bad, wonderful and painful, fortunate and devastating — we can put the past to rest. It will no longer have a negative impact on our future.

If it's too painful or difficult to investigate our past, we can humbly give it all up to Jesus Christ. We can let Him have all our past wounds and pain, all our bad, painful and devastating experiences and our future, whatever that may become. Jesus Christ is our great and complete wound healer. He heals all wounds, regardless of their age or origin.

Whether we look into our past or not, Jesus sets us free, and that remains the goal.  

Prayer

Dear Lord, our lives have brought us many experiences, some of us more than others. I ask that you cleanse us all from the negative ones that trouble us today. In Jesus' Name.

Photo by Tamara Gak