Family, Faith & Forgiveness A GOODBYE, CHRISTOPHER ROBIN PlanSample

Day 2 - Family is About Identity

Throughout our lives, we wear many " identities" - our careers, where we went to school, our marital and parental statuses....the list goes on and on. But in most cases, these are identities we've chosen. The identity we're most known for, however  our name - was not of our choosing. It was given to us. And whether we like it or not, generally that's  what we're known by our entire lives.

In GOODBYE, CHRISTOPHER ROBIN, names play a central role. As a boy, the real Christopher Robin becomes so disillusioned with the attention he receives because the literary Christopher Robin was named after him, that at one point he decides only to be known only as "Private Milne" in the British Army as it heads in World War II.

Maybe you're also disillusioned with identities your family has laid on you.  Fits of anger or abuse, an addictive personality, discovering you have the same negative traits you loathed in your own parent. You didn't ask for these identities either, but they're as real as your name.

That's why it becomes so important to understand that we have an identity that predates your current realities, your childhood, even your birth.  Before your parents ever met, before even the Earth was formed, you were a child of God. 

Scripture couldn't be clearer about your identity, "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! " 1 John 3:1

And were always a beloved child of God. You always will be a beloved child of God.  Your identity is eternal.

When we accept Jesus as Lord - when we let that reality sink marrow-deep - our restored identity as a beloved child of God begins to transform us and free us from other enslavements. We become new creations! (2 Corinthians 5:7)

PRAYER: God, I've entangled myself in so many other identities that I often forget the most important one: that I'm your child. You know every thought and action, so why do I often hide from You? Today, God, help me to remember and know deep in my very being that I am Yours.  And help me to fully embrace Your relentless, unending love. THAT is my identity. Amen