I’m posting on the Five Minute Friday Link-up today. Kate Motaung hosts the link-up. Kate provided a one-word writing prompt, and we free-write for five minutes flat. The writing prompt for today is FORWARD.
Setting a timer now…
1 John 5:3-5 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. (NIV)
In this stay-at-home time, a few of us church girls are participating in an online version of The Good Gospel, a bible study from IF: Gathering. We’re in week five, and one of the study questions today is, “What identities or roles have you put confidence in?
The question made me pause to think a bit (thanks IF). Literally, for decades, I put my effort, confidence, and identity in my achievements related to my work. Recognition and advancement drove me. I was trying desperately to overcome something. To prove myself worthy of the next rung on the ladder.
John 16:33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.
But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (NLT)
Fast-forward 20 years–today, I know that was fleeting (Ecclesiastes 2:16-17). I know now who I always was. An overcomer (1 John 5:4) because my Savior already overcame the world (John 16:33). I am a child of God in Christ. That is my identity. I just wish I would have realized this truth so much sooner.
No regrets, just moving forward in faith, stepping into my true identity. Friends, I don’t want you to waste your time chasing the wind. We only have so many days in this life, make the count.
What is your true identity?
Click this link to find the series on Our Identity in Christ.
…and time’s up.
Graphic Credit to IF:Gathering, The Good Gospel, Week 5/Day 2.
Photos from unsplash.com
Note: The Good Gospel bible study is not an online study. We are using Facebook as a platform to work through the study together.
Good Stuff!
Thank you!
And so here is the question:
“Just who the heck am I?”
The query’s odd suggestion
for him that’s soon to die.
Some say I am a poet,
some say I am a thug,
some say I am a rowdy goat
who badly needs a hug.
Some say I am a mutineer,
don’t know who he stands against,
some say I am a running deer
got tangled in barb-wire fence.
Some say this, and some say that,
but I know I am one cool cat!
This is good. One cool cat! I think you are too! Thanks.
I did a similar thing, sought identity through work achievements and I certainly climbed those rungs. I believed myself to be quite successful. But then suddenly I had to come home and begin homeschooling my son and everything changed. Drastically. Perspective shifted. Like you, it wasn’t long before I realized that all along I had been chasing the wind. None of those achievements mattered once left behind me. No one even remembered I had managed them. A relationship with God, serving one another, and family – those are the things that are real in life and create lasting change. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for leaving such a transparent comment. The realization that you weren’t as vital to the organization as you thought can be tough to handle. It was for me. But, God always has a better plan.