Has anyone ever said something to you about who you feel you are that hurt desperately bad?  Have you ever felt like someone thought only bad things about you? I have.  I didn’t like it.

What’s worse is when someone seems to use the Bible to prove you are not a good person.  Wait, maybe they used the Bible wrong.  Maybe, they used a Bible verse to attack you.  The Bible is full of truth, but that doesn’t mean that people always use the Bible correctly.

I remember when I was going through my heavy identity struggle.  I had many experiences that really hurt.  I want to share one with you.

I remember thinking about some things that we could be doing in ministry.  I was dreaming about the future of some programs.  I started to become very passionate about the idea that I felt God was leading us into.  It was like I could see it in action.

I found myself sharing this thought and idea with a friend in ministry.  What happened next really shocked me and frankly hurt me brutally.  He told me that what I was thinking about was sin.  What?  Yup, that’s right.  Apparently, dreaming was sinning to this friend.  He is still a friend, but that moment sure did change the way I approached my identity.

You see, God made me as a dreamer.  But my friend, was not made as one.  Too often, we build our convictions and then assume that they are truth for all.  That doesn’t mean that truth is relative, but it does mean that we need to be careful how we talk about our convictions.  To this friend, it was more important to be satisfied with what God was doing and that dreaming was insulting to God.  But God has made me see things that could be, and He has helped me to get others there.  This is great.

I want to encourage you.  I want you to know that there are things about you that others might feel are not right.  But you need to bring them to Jesus.  Ask Him.  Then, if we can help, ask us too.  We want to walk with you so that you can see yourself the way Jesus sees you, not the world.

I want to share with you another article I wrote that could help.  It’s on my personal site, www.bradleyd.ca where I write some different theological and leadership ideas.  I talk about how the word for Sin in the Bible is actually a little different than we sometimes use it.  This can perhaps help us to understand why some people might attack our identity inappropriately.  But let’s forgive, let’s move past it.  It can take time, but we must.

Give it a read and let’s move more into the identity Jesus made for us, not the one that people want us to live in.