[Discoveries] 11-30-08 Our outward identity -- Matthew 6:1

[Inspiration in Your Inbox]

"/*Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be 
seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in 
heaven." -- Matthew 6:1*/

Who are we really? As we search to uncover who we really are, we often 
start with the identity we give ourselves.

This first identity is who we pretend to be - the persona we project 
that we hope everyone else will buy. The image we try to portray to 
others usually reflects how we see ourselves and/or how we want others 
to see us. It controls many of our choices, from the clothes we wear to 
the car we drive to our hobbies, the courtesies we show, and so on.

For example, we create an appearance for ourselves - choosing or 
avoiding certain types of clothing, shoes, hats, makeup, jewelry, 
piercings, tattoos, hairstyles and so on. Why? Because these things 
create an illusion about who we want others to believe that we are. This 
is why there are books on the subject of dressing for success.

This identity is enormously important. Without it, there would be no 
civilization in a fallen world. We may feel like punching someone in the 
nose, but that would be inconsistent with the identity we project, so 
our courtesies tell us to walk away. We may feel like looking for 
romance from someone outside our marriage partner, but our sense of 
"character" tells us no.

Unfortunately, most of Christianity as it is practiced is contained 
within this identity. In church, we carefully hide our deeper identities 
from each other and from ourselves. Instead of "coming clean" with each 
other, we expend an enormous amount of energy rearranging our image by 
working on various Christian behavior modification programs. As a 
result, Christianity is viewed as one more self help program, and a 
restrictive one at that.

The good news is this: God's grace goes far deeper than behavior 
modification. God's grace creates an entirely new identity for us. But, 
that identity does us little practical good until we come face to face 
with our ugliest identity, the one the fallen world gives to us.

Be encouraged!
Dwight

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