Identity

Not Ashamed

Hi, my name is Jaime and I love Jesus.

There have been times I’ve wanted to introduce myself this way, just to get it out of the way. My anxiety and people-pleasing tendencies come up when I talk about my faith with unbelievers.

I want people to like me for who I am, regardless of my beliefs. I don’t want to be lumped into a category of people that have misrepresented his name. Besides that, once you mention the name of Jesus an automatic line is drawn in the sand.

I’m placing the fear of opinions above my faith

This is not in alignment with who I claim to be.

No one likes to be judged. We all want to be seen and accepted for who we are as people, not by our choices or preferences. But the truth is we’ve all judged and been judged in one way or another.

Then there’s Jesus. The one who sees all my faults and mistakes. He knows my history of disdain towards him, yet he dies for me. I spit on him, brutally attack him and mock him, yet he dies for me.

How can I be ashamed of the one who gave his life for me, for the one who solidified my own personal “I am.”

I am making a decision;

I will not be ashamed

I can’t talk the talk and not walk it. I need to walk it. I WANT to.

I need to make sure that I’m keeping it real, which for me means not shying away from speaking about the one who saved me from myself. With that being said, I’m not trying to convert you (well maybe a little) when I talk about him. He is just so much a part of my life, I can’t NOT talk about him. It wouldn’t be authentic.

Now that I have made this choice, it seems appropriate to give him a proper shout out:

Give me a J….

Give me an E…

Give me an S…

Give me a U…

Give me an S…

What’s that spell?

JESUS!!! hoots and haws in the background.

What fears stand in the way of your truth?

Identity

MANGLED MASTERPIECES

We have all been broken at some point in our lives, whether due to circumstances, choices we’ve made, or messages we’ve received from others.

While searching for a name for this blog I came across the word “mangled.” It really spoke to me, capturing the wide range of brokenness we’ve all experienced at one time or another. Some of us have been bruised by life while others have been crushed.

We have all been broken at some point in our lives

A few years ago I got a tattoo on my wrist of a heart with puzzle pieces inside of it. A cross sits boldly in the middle, completing the puzzle, with Ephesians 2:10 written beneath it. I got this as a reminder to myself about the truth of who I am: God’s masterpiece, his handiwork, his beautiful work of art.

This truth becoming a reality has been a process for me. I still have days when negative thoughts try to determine my identity. Days that I fall into the trap of comparison, letting others and the world dictate who I am.

But then, I glance at my wrist and remember.

It takes energy to fight off all the messages that stand against who God says I am and to embrace the person he’s created me to be. All of my weird and quirky ways, the dumb things that fly out of my mouth, my vanity issues, my mistakes, my choices. None of these things define me, not one. I am God’s masterpiece, and so are you.

I am God’s Masterpiece, and so are you

What things in your life have you let define you?

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.