| | LAST WEEK I FOUND MYSELF IN A RATHER AWKWARD SITUATION. IT WAS FRIDAY NIGHT AND I WAS SO EXCITED TO GO OUT ON A HOT DATE WITH MY WIFE. I FINISHED PRACTICE WITH OUR JUNIOR HIGH SOCCER TEAM AND WAS IN A HURRY TO CHANGE BEFORE NATALIE ARRIVED TO PICK ME UP (IT'S OKAY FOR THE GIRL TO PICK YOU UP FOR A DATE IF YOU'RE MARRIED). SO, I RAN INTO THE FIRST BATHROOM I FOUND. ON MY WAY IN I NOTICED A GROUP OF GIRLS, STANDING OUTSIDE THE BATHROOM, GIGGLING TO THEMSELVES AND LOOKING IN MY DIRECTION. IT TOOK ALL THAT I HAD TO KEEP FROM GIVING THEM A "Z-SNAP" AND YELLING, "GET UP OUT OF MY GRILL, GIRLFRIENDS". WELL, I PUT THEM BEHIND ME AND PROCEEDED IN. AS I TURNED THE CORNER, I NOTICED A BARRAGE OF PINK IN THIS PARTICULAR RESTROOM. EVERYTHING FROM PINK BAGS, TO PINK SHOES AND SOCKS WERE THROWN ABOUT ON THE FLOOR. MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS THAT THE BOYS IN THIS SCHOOL WERE INCREDIBLE PANSIES. A HALF-SECOND LATER I REALIZED WHAT I'D DONE. YES, I'M THE LOSER WHO RAN INTO THE GIRLS BATHROOM. I RAN OUT OF THAT RESTROOM (WHICH, I'M VERY THANKFUL, WAS VACANT) ONLY TO HEAR AN UPROAR OF LAUGHTER COMING FROM A GROUP OF GIRLS THAT THOUGHT FOR A SECOND THAT I HAD A SERIOUS IDENTITY COMPLEX.
I THINK THAT MANY PEOPLE WHO CLAIM TO FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST HAVE A SPIRITUAL IDENTITY COMPLEX. THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST HAS HAD A CERTAIN STATE OF MIND ABOUT WHO THEY ARE THAT HAS LEAD MANY OF THEM TO A LIFE OF HOPELESSNESS AND DEFEAT. I'VE HEARD SO MANY BELIEVERS SHARE STORIES ABOUT SINS THEY'VE STRUGGLED WITH FOR YEARS THAT THEY'VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO OVERCOME. IN MANY, IF NOT ALL, OF THOSE CASES YOU CAN SEE A COMMON THREAD......THEY DO NOT KNOW WHO THEY ARE IN CHRIST! I'M TIRED OF HEARING THE STATEMENT FROM MY OWN MIND AND ALSO THE LIPS OF OTHERS, "I'M JUST A WORTHLESS SINNER, SAVED BY GRACE". THE TRUTH IS THAT WE ALL WERE COMPLETELY WORTHLESS AND INCAPABLE OF DOING RIGHT AT ONE POINT IN OUR LIVES, BUT THAT IS NOT TRUE FOR THOSE WHO'VE COME INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST. NOW WE ARE "A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST" (II COR. 5:17). THANK GOD THAT WE'VE "BEEN SET FREE FROM SIN AND HAVE BECOME SLAVES TO RIGHTEOUSNESS" (ROM. 6:18). WE MUST CONTINUALLY REMEMBER THAT GOD IS NOW WORKING IN US, ENABLING US TO LIVE IN LINE WITH HIS PLAN FOR OUR LIVES. KNOWING THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO GIVE INTO TEMPTATION IS A GREAT START TO OVERCOMING IT. THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS AT WORK IN OUR LIVES, EMPOWERING US TO LIVE A LIFE THAT IS PLEASING TO HIM. THE POWER OF KNOWING WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST WILL SET YOU FREE FROM LIVING A LIFE OF DEFEAT. SO, PUT YOUR IDENTITY COMPLEX BEHIND YOU! REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST!
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| | Posted 8/28/2006 11:01 AM - 12 comments
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