Skip to main content

Identity

              There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

 

            There is lots of talk about identity. What do you identify as? According to today’s verse, for a Christian to identify as other than a Christian is wrong. I suspect this idea is where Martin Luther King, Jr. got the idea of being judged by the content of our characters rather than the color of our skin. This passage makes it clear that Christian is the identity we are to maintain when we become Christians. We may be Black, White, Native, male, female, American, Kenyan, Baptist, Methodist, Roman Catholic, rich, poor, or whatever, but those things are – at most – the equivalent of the style and color of the T-shirt we choose to wear.

            This is not to say that we don’t need to work on our proficiency in loving others. No one is pretending that our history may make loving might present come difficulties for many of us. There are times when I think half the reason I’m friends with some people is because my dog, Grace, LOVES people. And in my failure to love others as I should I must include that I make it difficult for others to love me.

            As I have been meditating on this, an idea comes to mind. When I get overwhelmed, I’ve often half-kidded that I wished a “knight in shining armor” would show up, do whatever needs to be done, and ride into the sunset. Of course, this goes back to love languages. The point is that doing what you would like someone to do for you is loving.

            The knight in shining armor idea wanders in and out of my imagination when it comes to helping (loving) others. I want to be a stealth lover, the masked superhero lover, the shadow lover, who may well do the loving thing without anyone knowing I did it. That’s not always healthy or possible, but it’s not as strange as it sounds, considering the notion of “Secret Santas.”

            The key to all of this is that our love for someone isn't based on who they are. It's based on who we are. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more