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Identity Theft

I read recently that 60 million Americans have been affected by identity theft. Sixty million. Here is some perspective. The state of California, the most populous state in the U.S., has a recorded population for 2018 of just under 40 million. Victims of identity theft have reported feelings of loss, devastation, stress, anxiety, fear, and thoughts of suicide.

Now, there are 240 million Christians in the U.S. as is documented by Wikipedia. How many of the 240 million would you guess has suffered from some form of identity theft? Consider Jeremiah 1:5 which tell us before we were conceived, we already had an identity.

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you."

Source Unknown
As I look back over my life, there is a definitive pattern of morphing from one personality into another.  Through subtle undertones or blatant criticisms, I allowed others to not only take my identity but to obliterate it. I experienced those same emotions of devastation, stress, anxiety, fear, and so on. Several people have asked me over the years why I would ever put up with this kind of thievery. Little compromises. Truthfully, there was never a conscious decision to accept this type of abuse. Fear and low self-esteem were the untrustworthy, mental gatekeepers who allowed the liars and abusers full access. I believed what others said about me. I accepted their labels as if my age, or upbringing, or hometown somehow made me a flawed individual. Sadly, I had more integrity and moral character than the pilferers lording over me.

"I became the true definition of the walking dead."

Song of Solomon declares the "little foxes spoil the vineyard." Those crafty foxes have names such as Rejection, Compromise, Self-Loathing, Abandonment, Failure, Trauma, Fear, Jealousy, Pride. Stop to reflect for a moment and you can probably identify the little foxes in your life, too. People, events, emotions that have reshaped you. Yes, even other Christians. So many of us have not only fallen victim to identity theft, but there is probable cause to convict the church world of felony theft and grand larceny by way of CONTROL and RELIGION. Remember, all life begins and ends with God. No one else has dominion over you. Therefore, God is the One we want to please not mere mortals who are just as imperfect. So, run those foxes out of the vineyard of your heart and allow God to tend to the garden of your soul so that you may bring forth good fruit.

At the age of 42, I'm just beginning to discover who I really am, who God created me to be.
I am finally free to be me. I am enough and no one can ever take that from me.

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10 


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