“You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”

But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. –Galatians 2:15-21 NLT

We live in a battlefield, where unseen forces wage war for the entirety of the human race. The future hangs in the balance as powers and principalities struggle for control of the earthly battlefield. Underneath the cover fire, deep in the trenches, we see the outcomes of the shelling.

Brokenness seems to reign over it all. Relationships blow up with the ferocity of a landmine, spewing shrapnel into entire platoons of people. Hopelessness hangs over the future like a spectre following napalm, eager to devour any glimmer of optimism. A deep rooted selfishness reinforces isolation from other humans, where everyone looks out for themselves first and foremost. The shellshock of the bombs leaves an unseen struggle in the minds and hearts of many, who feel trapped inside of a body and a life that they never asked for, and want nothing more than to walk away.

The silent shrieks of pain ring out from every household as trauma perpetuates across generations, passing along wounds that innocent children inherited from their parents. Worry about the future in all its forms paralyzes people and relationships both. Insecurity as deep as the chasms left behind by trenches stops healing as surely as it arrested the progression of troops.

Thank God we’re not defined by our pasts.

To live on mission is to understand and actively choose each day that we are exactly who God says we are. Our pasts, our sins, our wounds do not define us. The Church is made up of deeply imperfect people, who speak the truths of God to one another. They are a people who are marked not by the cynicism of the world, but each bears the scars of a past now healed by the Gospel.

That Gospel is the Good News that we are now free. The battle may rage on around us, but the war has been won. We are not abandoned, we are not forgotten–we are adopted, precious, loved.

That Gospel takes many forms for many people. For the couple who are struggling to communicate, it demonstrates that our needs are not met in our spouse, but in a God who accepts us as we are, and gives us the ability to reach out when we’re afraid of being rejected. For the single mother who is not sure she can pay the bills for another month, it is an invitation to rest in the fact that God cares for the birds and the flowers, and came Himself to restore the relationship–He’ll walk with her through the valley. For the proud it is news that humility is coming, and that their worth can be demolished in a statement, and rebuilt on something that can stand the test of time.

As we’ve walked this journey of relationship and small community, it has become abundantly clear to me that God is at work first in my own heart. Through my many flaws, insecurities, and pains, God offers an invitation to trust His love. When we walk with hurting people and see the bombs of their past explode, the shrapnel may sting, but it will not destroy. God is pushing outward, in slow, deliberate steps to invite others to enter into a place where they can hear His voice, and discover afresh that they are who He says they are.

Rest, meditate, and contemplate who you are in Christ. This is the foundation that calls you forward into mission, to love those who are too hurt to allow you to love. To heal from your own wounds, and put your identity and worth fully in Christ.

I am accepted…

John 1:12 I am God’s child.
John 15:15 As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1 I have been justified.
1 Corinthians 6:17 I am united with the Lord, and I am one with Him in spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 I have been bought with a price and I belong to God.
1 Corinthians 12:27 I am a member of Christ’s body.
Ephesians 1:3-8 I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child.
Colossians 1:13-14 I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins.
Colossians 2:9-10 I am complete in Christ.
Hebrews 4:14-16 I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ.

I am secure…

Romans 8:1-2 I am free from condemnation.
Romans 8:28 I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances.
Romans 8:31-39 I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be separated from the love of God.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 I have been established, anointed and sealed by God.
Colossians 3:1-4 I am hidden with Christ in God.
Philippians 1:6 I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me.
Philippians 3:20 I am a citizen of heaven.
2 Timothy 1:7 I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.
1 John 5:18 I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me.

I am significant…

John 15:5 I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine, and a channel of His life.
John 15:16 I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit.
1 Corinthians 3:16 I am God’s temple.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 I am a minister of reconciliation for God.
Ephesians 2:6 I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm.
Ephesians 2:10 I am God’s workmanship.
Ephesians 3:12 I may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

-From Neil Anderson