Before we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, our identities come from the world. How people view us or label us comes from the world. Our identities and labels come from our cultures and our families. They come from people that we do not know. They even come from the ones that we place on ourselves. But it’s important for us to remember, none of these come from God. They are not what God says about us.
But here’s the difficult part. Sometimes hard for us to accept. Sometimes hard for us to believe. When we take Jesus into our hearts, everything about us should change. Including our identities. Including our labels. And others should see this as well. Our walks with Christ should demonstrate this. They should show this. Our “old selfs” have been washed away. Our “new selfs” are brilliant and full of hope. Everything changes. Even how we view God should change.
Why is this hard to accept? Why is this hard for us to believe? I have had veterans tell me they don’t know how they can be forgiven, from what they have seen and what they have done. I have had civilians say the same thing. The doubt comes into our minds because we are vulnerable during this transition. And it’s during this vulnerability that Satan tries to creep in. Telling us that we have not been changed. That we cannot be changed. But he is the liar. The grand liar. Doing all he can to steal your soul away from Christ. So try to remember this: The Victory Has Already Been Declared! The cross did that for us. Therefore our new identities and labels are real. Christ has you covered. He has taken away the “old”. He has given you the “new”. It may take you a little while to fully believe this. It may take practice. Maybe today is the day for you to start doing so. Maybe today is the day to begin truly believing your heart has been changed. Maybe today is the day to put your energy and efforts into this. Truly believe that God loves you. He always has. He always will.
