‘In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’ (vv4–5) John 1:6-9
Life’s a gift! It offers us the chance to go in search of meaning, to make peace with ourselves and life itself. Life offers us options but insight and understanding, come from one enduring origin, God, creator of all. We must find trust in our ability and belief that we can successfully face many daily demands for our confidence to grow.
Our capacity for life increases, our judgments improve. Our history impacts us from conception, and we yearn to discover personal security. This lies beyond our natural ability. We can’t craft self-esteem from thin air; all we do is put on a mask, and masquerade as someone we aspire to be without realising that aspiration.
This mask is fashioned from our perception of others and our own assumptions. We need an external reference point to understand who and why we are, and to help us find confidence to choose values to live by that will shape our life and relationships.
Jesus is our perpetual life, a lighthouse forever steering us away from the rocks of self-destruction. The whole Christian journey is one of discernment and discovery. First, we discern God’s love and then discover we are accepted and loved. Then we begin to discern that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psa. 139:14).
No longer are we constrained by our history, nor reduced to masquerading as someone we assume others expect us to be. We find our true identity in friendship with our strongest advocate, God. We switch on the lights and live with confidence in our ability to exercise control over our motivation, behaviour and environment.
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER: Psa. 139; Isa. 48:16–22; Rom. 8:1–17; 1 John 1:1–10.
AN ACTION TO TAKE: In a climate that seeks to sell us an identity to mask much of life’s pain, take time to consider God’s promise of light and life.
A PRAYER TO MAKE: ‘Lord, help me to place my complete confidence in You and find my confidence to live every day with Jesus. Amen.’
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