The “great philosopher” Pearl Baily once said: “You never find yourself until you face the truth.”
Any time someone mentions truth I tend to slow down and pay attention. I agree with Pearl Bailey… with qualifications.
There are at least two truths about ourselves in any given situation: the truth of where we have been and what we have done, and the truth of who we are and where we are going.
Which Truth Are You Listening To?
First, there is the truth of where we have been and what we have done.
When I look back at my life I can see mistakes, bad choices and failures. The things I did, like drinking “like a fish” until I was 21. Or the things I didn’t do, like choosing to look aside, refusing to help, the way the Pharisees did in the parable of the good Samaritan. Those things all too often shout louder than the positive achievements and hard-earned victories. That looking behind and seeing the negative is what Larry Poland refers to as the accusation gap. If we focus on the negative past choices and actions, they scream at us as long as we let them. When we listen to accusations, no matter how true they are in relation to what happened in the past, we begin to allow them to define us. It is a trap. Slowly we find ourselves unable to forgive ourselves. We become stuck as the old tapes tie us down and keep us from moving forward.
Fortunately, that is not the end.
Second, there is the truth of who we are and where we are going.
Notice the subtle difference? Now we are not looking at our actions but our being. Look at who God says we are and who He created us to be. (I am not a human doing.) Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, those who accept that gift are reconciled to God. All those accusations are met with “Forgiven” & “Paid for on the cross.” The truth is, We are new creations, the old has gone and the new has come. We are set free from the past and are able to move into our intended, eternal life, here, today. The past and it’s accusations only have power over us if I give them that power.
God defines us as His chosen children, part of His royal priesthood, His bride! IWe are fearfully and wonderfully made, designed to carry the good fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control.
He knows us perfectly. Every hair on our heads are individually numbered, and He knows the exact number of each one! He knows us in even more detail than that. And He declares day and night and night and day; “I love you with an everlasting love!” “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you!” “You have been bought with a price!” God says, “ I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”
Yes, our pasts happened. That is truth. And it is all part of making us who we are today. But the other truth is the love of God and His abundant, constantly over-flowing, grace to live in the truths of how He sees each of us for who we are, not what we do.
Let’s embrace the past, thanking God for how He has used it to bring us to this point, teaching us about His love and care. At the same time we let go of the accusations, embracing truths of God’s forgiveness and His definition of us. From that place of acceptance we are able to allow His love and grace to flow through us to others.
Every human being on the planet is created in the image of God. Freedom and good are here for us to reach for. Or we can run the old tapes.
Time to face the truth and find yourself.
Which truth are you listening to? Like most of us I walk in both. I am a work in progress.
Which truth do you want to listen to? (No “Yeah buts…” allowed =} that might attempt to justify staying stuck.) God is calling us all into freedom. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Rom 12:2a) Choose and ask Abba for the courage to flow in His grace. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all we can ask or even imagine!
