I believe that spiritual amnesia is one of the most deadly yet most prevalent pitfalls in the Christian life. We are all many things. We are husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, students, teachers, coaches, engineers, pastors and we all juggle the various hats that we need to wear throughout the day. When we're juggling so many things, it's extremely difficult to remember that we are sons and daughters of God Himself before anything else. Sometimes, we just need to be reminded.
So, who are you?
You are a child of God (John 1:12).
You are blameless and free from accusation (Colossians 1:22).
You are designed to abide and be renewed in Christ, the true vine (John 15:1).
You are a co-heir of Christ in all of God's amazing inheritance (Romans 8:17).
You have the right to come boldly before the throne of God to find mercy and grace in a time of need. (Hebrews 4:16).
You are a new creation, the old man is dead and all that remains is the new (2 Corinthians 5:17).
You are the workmanship of God (Ephesians 2:10).
There's so much more in Scripture. If you're struggling to find who you are in Christ, go look in the Word. Notice that none of these truths come from ourselves. You don't define who you are, Jesus defined who you are on the cross. Truly believing this doesn't come easily, it's a fight that has to be fought constantly. It's difficult but worth it.
I want to share a poem by a man named Dietrich Bonhoeffer to encourage you. This man was one of the great heroes of the faith. He fought tooth and nail in WW2 era Germany to save the church from being taken over by the Nazi government under Hitler. A rebel for the cause of Christ, He was hanged by the Nazis in April of 1945. This is a man who should have had everything figured out, right? Read this and see that that even the best of us fight this fight:
"Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a Squire from his country house.
Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As thought it were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equably, smilingly, proudly,
like one accustomed to win.
Am I then really that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectations of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all.
Who am I? This or the Other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am thine!"
You aren't the first person to struggle with this. You aren't unforgivable because you forget who you are in Christ. In fact, the opposite is true. You are forgiven by a faithful Father and He defines who you are. Live in that.
