Identity

I’m so thankful Jesus doesn’t withhold his forgiveness. Part of our identity in Christ is that we are forgiven. This isn’t because of anything we have done, but because of Jesus’ great love for us. Even if we can’t forgive ourselves, Christ still forgives us. Amen and amen!  

The New Testament mentions freedom often and this freedom only comes through faith in Christ Jesus. It’s a freedom that results from Jesus taking our place on the cross. He died for our sins so we can live freely. The guilt is gone; so is the shame. Fear is cast aside and newness of life overflows into every area of our hearts. This freedom is found only in Christ alone.

   Through Christ, we are not just overcomers, we are more than conquerors. Man, that gets me excited. Nothing can separate us from Christ and his love. Through him we are granted victory over death and sin. We are promised eternity with him. And we can trust him to help us have the victory in our classroom.

One of the most hopeful marks of a believer is the freedom we experience as a result of healing. He heals our trauma, sins, mindset, past, and brokenness. He heals our hidden wounds as well as the visible. He is the Great Physician of our soul and what a privilege to be able to share this healing with our precious students.

   Like Jan, we only have one body. If we have given our lives to Jesus as Savior, asked him to forgive our sins, and turned from the old way of living, then our body is also a temple of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus ascended into heaven after he rose from the dead, he gave his followers the gift of the Spirit to live inside them.

  So, I stopped trying to fit the mold. I researched the standards and pacing guide. And I found ways to meet the criteria the school expected while utilizing creative methods.

Our sin does not define us. It is not our identity. Psalm 103:12 (NIV) says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” God doesn’t look at us and see our failures. He looks at us and sees his beloved children.               Do you have the freedom to fail? Do the students in your class have that freedom too? Do you live like you are a new creation or do you let the regrets, sin, and shame from the past weigh you down?

God loves us more than we can understand. He calls us his children. Loved by God is part of our identity. Whether we can understand it or not, we cannot change the fact that he loves us in an incomprehensible way. He also instructs us in John 15:12 (NLT) “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” 

So many of our kids live in homes that aren’t safe. Parents are unavailable. Kids are responsible for their own meals. Adults are busy doing their “important” things. Children often go unheard and unseen. Screens are raising so much of this generation. Interaction comes through games with people they’ve never met in real life. If kids do engage with parents, many times they are yelled at, mistreated, and rejected by the very ones who are supposed to want, love, and respect th

There’s something special about being seen and known. To remember a person’s name is a big deal, but recalling important details about them and including special activities for their benefit makes them feel special.

     If I was ever going to learn what my true identity in Christ looked like I had to surrender the last huge hold out—my identity as a teacher. I was a teacher to the core. God placed the call on my life and that was the reason I had been placed on this earth; to shape and mold children until I got too old to work. This job was my mission field, my everything. That sounds holy, doesn’t it? But as long as teaching was my everything, that meant Jesus wasn’t, and something had

Think about an art curator who has been given the task of tending to the Mona Lisa. Every move is calculated. Careful attention is given to unnecessary human touch that could damage the original work. Staged maneuvering. Focused cleaning with only the best products. Gentle moves and handling. Pride in getting the opportunity to engage with such a masterpiece.               Is this how we interact with the students in our care? Do we treat them as the masterpieces of God that