Victim, Horror, or Sinner? - 2 - Saturday April 04, 2015
We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4:16
It is very easy to think our identity relates only to other people, the horizontal level. People aware of their own sinfulness who think this way tend to fall into two categories. Both these mindsets are used by Satan to effectively block us from coming to God.
The first way is to feel "I am a victim." You have been hurt by a person more powerful than you, in areas of love, sexuality, friendship, money, career advancement or another. A deep sense of betrayal follows if the person was someone you trusted, as well as a sense of violation and vulnerability, even if a stranger damaged you. Normal reactions are confusion, anger, bitterness, and withdrawal.
Condemning ourselves-"I am a horrible person"-is a natural response to our sin against ourselves or another. Secret sins like masturbation, pornography, or drunkenness, as well as sins that violate others at a deep level, lead us to this conclusion about ourselves. Satan's lies and labels of "worthless, hopeless, failure" easily come in here.
While both these categories are a response to sin, neither acknowledges God and His power. Only when we look up, relating vertically to Someone higher than other humans, can we rightly label ourselves: "I am a sinner." There is a way out of isolation and bondage here. A sinner is not his sin-he can be forgiven and freed of it. Sin against us or by us does not define our core identity. God gives us our identity: we are created in His image, and He wants us to be His beloved children. In this is great hope.
Submitted by:
Dotty Vanderhorst
Cornerstone Community Church
Overland Park, Kansas
One-Year Reading Plan:
Deuteronomy 26:1-27:26
Luke 10:38-11:13
Psalms 76:1-12
Proverbs 12:15-17
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