Many people who look at me and my life now may think, “Wow, she has it all together!” or “Gosh, how confident she is!” or other similar thoughts.
The truth is, though, that I don’t always “have it all together,” and I’m not 100% “confident” all the time. From the time I was in grade school (or primary school, as it’s called in Brunei) all the way to college and even as a young mission worker, I struggled with my identity.
You see, I didn’t really know who I was and who I wanted to be. I seemed to always want to fit in and gain the approval of my peers — and I’m ashamed to admit that there were many, many occasions when I would do and say things that I knew were wrong and sinful, just to “fit in.”
It took me a looooong while to discover and embrace my true identity — my identity in Christ. “I am a Christian, a child of the living God,” as it says in the previously linked article. Thus, I am called to live out my life as God’s child, especially as a Catholic.
Source.
I must admit, though, that even now, as a married woman and mom to three kids, and a self-declared “media missionary,” I sometimes struggle with embracing my identity. I can be insecure at times, and a lot of days, I am not a very Spirit-filled person.
This is why I need to constantly seek God and His grace. I need to ask for His forgiveness every day, to “return to Him,” to “find a way back” to His loving embrace — just as I wrote in my Didache reflection for today. Without Him, I would not have the boldness to do what I do now.
As Pope Francis said in one of his Masses at Vatican City:
“We are saved in Jesus Christ and no one can take from us this identity card… Civil status: we are free!”
“This is how I identify myself, as a child of God; what a beautiful identity!”
“That is the root of our courage, I am free, I am a child, the Father loves me, and I love the Father!”
I invite you, then, to embrace your identity in Christ. Let us remember that God created us to do great things in this world — “great” by His standards may not be “big” and “grand” things according to the world, but remember that even the little things we do with great love count!
