Spirituality—your true identity

Originally appeared on spirituality.com

After spending a joyful Christmas with my daughter, I caught a flight home and deplaned with plans to retrieve my car from the airport parking lot. My carry-on bag was open, overstuffed with gifts. I placed a small drawstring bag containing my essentials—wallet, cell phone, and eyeglasses—into the top of it before stacking it on my suitcase. As I trundled through the concourse with baggage in tow, I glanced back at one point and discovered that the little drawstring bag was gone.

I’m glad to say that at no time was I dismayed or upset. While I knew that my credit cards, driver’s license, and so forth were important, I had a deep conviction that I couldn’t be separated from my true essentials, which are really defined by my relation to God, rather than with material belongings.

The Bible tells us in the first chapter of Genesis that “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” I’ve learned that since we’re made in God’s likeness, this God-given identity can never be lost. It’s intact because it belongs to us.

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