identity pt.2

It seems that everyday we struggle with the issue of identity. It confronts us on the magazine racks, at work, in our relationships and in those quiet moments when we're alone. The thing about that makes this so interesting is that it is the same struggle that we have faced since the beginning of creation. God created us in His image and we have thoroughly failed to grasp that every step of the way. In the garden of eden Eve was told by the serpent that if she ate from the forbidden fruit she would become like God. But she already was. God created her and He created her in His image. She and Adam missed that point and it epitomizes our struggles today. We try so hard to reach, to become a certain person that we believe we should or could be. It becomes such a fruitless struggle. Yet when we reach a point of sudden realization, when we recognize the true identity that we have from God it is such a beautiful thing. Not only do we discover who we really are but we find the meaning that we have been looking for all along.

The crazy thing is that the struggle for identity isn't just limited to us as individuals. I can;t tell you how many books have been written about trying to reclaim the early church that we find in the book of Acts. The problem is that we have spent centuries saying that was then and this is now. We've forgotten that we are that same church. Its a problem rooted in lack of awareness of true identity. Too much has changed, too much time has passed, culture is different... It's all excuses to cover our struggle with identity. How beautiful it is to see when churches claim their true identity as the bride of Christ.