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Old Apr 02, 2014, 12:48 AM
pinkbutterfly pinkbutterfly is offline
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I had a really good, and tough session today.

I asked her a question that I had been wondering for quite a while - I am a Christian, and she is a Christian counselor, so one of the things we work on is my identity in Christ. So I asked her if she ever has doubts about her identity in Christ. She said at this point in her life she is pretty secure in it, at age 52.
She did say that it was not always that way.

Then she went on to share with me a little bit about her childhood - that she had been molested as a small child, and some of how she came through some of that. It was really cool because she's never really disclosed anything about her life, but it was totally appropriate. It helped. Quite a bit.
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  #2  
Old Apr 02, 2014, 01:20 AM
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What is an identity in Christ? Is it like how much you believe in Christian teachings or like who you are as a person?
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  #3  
Old Apr 02, 2014, 01:45 AM
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See no one shoe fits all- for me that would have been a big no-no.
Glad you found it helpful.
I too am a bit confused about what an identity in Christ means... No need to share if you don't want to, just a tad curious, I guess
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  #4  
Old Apr 02, 2014, 05:10 AM
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Hi PinkButterfly... My T and I discuss these types of things too. For me... I have had (and to some extent still do ) doubts about who I am to Christ... For me its a struggle between what the Bible says (that we are loved, precious, sons and daughters,etc) vs. The messages I received from my family...(worthless, expendable)

I too have found it helpful when my T shared his struggles...not because it really gave me answers but it helped me see that others struggle too... A relationship with Christ is personal and every person will experience it differently... Just like with other relationships...(although The promises in the Bible are the same..

So for me the more I struggle and wrestle with God about lots of things the more secure I am in that identity...
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  #5  
Old Apr 02, 2014, 05:36 AM
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My t and i discuss this often too-- esp about our identity in Christ,which helped me get over sooo many struggles i used to have. It helps me a lot to when she tells me things about herself. Glad you found things helful with your t
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Old Apr 02, 2014, 05:48 AM
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'What is our Identity in Christ' is not too different from the question, 'Who are we in life?'

Identity in Christ means to accept that God loves us unconditionally, that he has a purpose for us, that we are a masterpiece made by his hands and so on. But even we Christians struggle with the demons of our past. The voices that tell us we are horrible, unworthy of love etc. But to find that God has no judgment on us, even if we have ALL the judgment in the world upon ourselves, to find that God trusts us to be great, to accept he loves us without condition - is when we find our identity. If we Christians believe the voice of truth and refuse to believe the lies our past has fed us, that is where we find our identity, our place and purpose in this world and in God..

(Haha, and now everyone will think I am a lunatic :-) But I am just a person with an identity in Christ!)

I am glad you have a counselor who shares your faith, I know how wonderful that is.
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  #7  
Old Apr 02, 2014, 04:44 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Amelia112 View Post
'What is our Identity in Christ' is not too different from the question, 'Who are we in life?'

Identity in Christ means to accept that God loves us unconditionally, that he has a purpose for us, that we are a masterpiece made by his hands and so on. But even we Christians struggle with the demons of our past. The voices that tell us we are horrible, unworthy of love etc. But to find that God has no judgment on us, even if we have ALL the judgment in the world upon ourselves, to find that God trusts us to be great, to accept he loves us without condition - is when we find our identity. If we Christians believe the voice of truth and refuse to believe the lies our past has fed us, that is where we find our identity, our place and purpose in this world and in God..

(Haha, and now everyone will think I am a lunatic :-) But I am just a person with an identity in Christ!)

I am glad you have a counselor who shares your faith, I know how wonderful that is.
Yes...what she said...that's what it is. Sorry I didn't respond sooner....it's been a crazy day.

But...I appreciate everyone's responses.
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  #8  
Old Apr 02, 2014, 05:50 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Amelia112 View Post
'What is our Identity in Christ' is not too different from the question, 'Who are we in life?'

Identity in Christ means to accept that God loves us unconditionally, that he has a purpose for us, that we are a masterpiece made by his hands and so on. But even we Christians struggle with the demons of our past. The voices that tell us we are horrible, unworthy of love etc. But to find that God has no judgment on us, even if we have ALL the judgment in the world upon ourselves, to find that God trusts us to be great, to accept he loves us without condition - is when we find our identity. If we Christians believe the voice of truth and refuse to believe the lies our past has fed us, that is where we find our identity, our place and purpose in this world and in God..

(Haha, and now everyone will think I am a lunatic :-) But I am just a person with an identity in Christ!)

I am glad you have a counselor who shares your faith, I know how wonderful that is.
Yes, identity in Christ is our security and comfort in difficult times. It's what I hold onto when I hate everything, including myself.
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  #9  
Old Apr 02, 2014, 06:05 PM
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Yes, identity in Christ is our security and comfort in difficult times. It's what I hold onto when I hate everything, including myself.
I am so glad to read this HG! It makes me happy to read that people have their faith to hold on to, even in the most difficult times.
I find that often for us Christians, it feels harder to accept our identity in Christ because we live in a world of pain and suffering and then there is that ONE who promises us all the things we long for.
And especially with people who have a past full of abuse, pain neglect - it becomes very hard to grasp that Love that God offers us. It feels unreachable sometimes.
But then again, I feel reassured every time I pray and every time I remind myself of the unconditional love and promise and something just fills me with conviction and security.
It's kinda nice to know that God loves me even in my darkest moments..
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  #10  
Old Apr 02, 2014, 06:07 PM
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Glad to see that I am not the only one who struggles with my identity in Christ. Growing up I had issues with the church I attended and stopped going. I converted after marrying hubby an am VERY involved in our church (Eucharistic Minister, leader of the children's liturgy, help hubby with lost of Knights of Columbus, etc). The problem is that over the last year I have questioned it a lot the only person who really knows is T (hubby and best friend know some but only a little bit) I fake it a lot at mass.
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  #11  
Old Apr 02, 2014, 06:28 PM
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Glad to see that I am not the only one who struggles with my identity in Christ. Growing up I had issues with the church I attended and stopped going. I converted after marrying hubby an am VERY involved in our church (Eucharistic Minister, leader of the children's liturgy, help hubby with lost of Knights of Columbus, etc). The problem is that over the last year I have questioned it a lot the only person who really knows is T (hubby and best friend know some but only a little bit) I fake it a lot at mass.
It's not unusual to struggle with your identity in Christ. You have been through a lot! Not just your issues in your past, but then also with the church you went to. So it's not a surprise that you struggle - it's normal. But the one thing we Christians "know" is that God never actually leaves us. Even if we "fake" it. I had a rough time for a while where all I had for God was contempt. I thought I wasn't really a Christian. But every time I was in need, it was like I sent a prayer and somehow God came through for me. This might sound absolutely crazy.. But I once prayed and told God I wasn't able to believe in him any more if there wasn't a clear sign.
He sent the most amazing incredible real miracle I have ever experienced in my life :-)
Even in that spiteful state I was in, he was still there and still powerful.
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  #12  
Old Apr 02, 2014, 10:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Amelia112 View Post
'What is our Identity in Christ' is not too different from the question, 'Who are we in life?'

Identity in Christ means to accept that God loves us unconditionally, that he has a purpose for us, that we are a masterpiece made by his hands and so on. But even we Christians struggle with the demons of our past. The voices that tell us we are horrible, unworthy of love etc. But to find that God has no judgment on us, even if we have ALL the judgment in the world upon ourselves, to find that God trusts us to be great, to accept he loves us without condition - is when we find our identity. If we Christians believe the voice of truth and refuse to believe the lies our past has fed us, that is where we find our identity, our place and purpose in this world and in God..

(Haha, and now everyone will think I am a lunatic :-) But I am just a person with an identity in Christ!)

I am glad you have a counselor who shares your faith, I know how wonderful that is.
Wait... God has no judgement on us? So who decides about heaven or hell and sends floods and turns people to stone and banishes them from the garden and all that? Isn't god supposed to be the ultimate judge? Doesn't the harshness of the way we judge ourselves and each other stem (at least in part) from a value system that is predicated upon religious (which in America basically = Christian) notions of righteousness/sin, reward/punishment, clean/unclean etc.

Truly curious, not baiting. This is definitely not my understanding of any monotheistic religion. I had never heard the expression identity in Christ, so thank you for your explanation.
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  #13  
Old Apr 02, 2014, 10:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Favorite Jeans View Post
Wait... God has no judgement on us? So who decides about heaven or hell and sends floods and turns people to stone and banishes them from the garden and all that? Isn't god supposed to be the ultimate judge? Doesn't the harshness of the way we judge ourselves and each other stem (at least in part) from a value system that is predicated upon religious (which in America basically = Christian) notions of righteousness/sin, reward/punishment, clean/unclean etc.

Truly curious, not baiting. This is definitely not my understanding of any monotheistic religion. I had never heard the expression identity in Christ, so thank you for your explanation.
It's not about whether God is just. He is. He does punish and He does judge. But those who are Christians are not judged any longer because God, in the form of Jesus, paid the price. So that judgment that would normally fall on us fell on Him, and we are no longer judged. The price Jesus paid showed that God is both just and loving. He is just because the price was paid. He is loving because He paid it Himself to make sure we are with Him and not separated from Him.

We chose sin and evil and separation from God and hell. We chose to let all that open on the world because we have the free will to do good or evil. The whole of history has been about God working to redeem us and bring us back to Him.
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  #14  
Old Apr 02, 2014, 11:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Favorite Jeans View Post
Wait... God has no judgement on us? So who decides about heaven or hell and sends floods and turns people to stone and banishes them from the garden and all that? Isn't god supposed to be the ultimate judge? Doesn't the harshness of the way we judge ourselves and each other stem (at least in part) from a value system that is predicated upon religious (which in America basically = Christian) notions of righteousn6ess/sin, reward/punishment, clean/unclean etc.

Truly curious, not baiting. This is definitely not my understanding of any monotheistic religion. I had never heard the expression identity in Christ, so thank you for your explanation.
So, the God of the Old Testament is perfect and people got punished for falling short and doing bad things such as being selfish and not caring for orphans and widows.

And God had to be really judgmental at the time because remember in ancient history people would kill each other for sport. And so the Jews had to be radically different from everyone else to live in God's Way, so we got, "Thou shall not kill" and fire and plagues and all that.

But the New Testament changed everything with the coming of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is totally radical. Forget what culture and mankind have done to the message so often through puritanical teaching. Jesus is all about love, and loving others, and receiving love. It's astounding to encounter this for the first time. At least it was for me.
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  #15  
Old Apr 02, 2014, 11:27 PM
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Originally Posted by PeeJay View Post
So, the God of the Old Testament is perfect and people got punished for falling short and doing bad things such as being selfish and not caring for orphans and widows.

And God had to be really judgmental at the time because remember in ancient history people would kill each other for sport. And so the Jews had to be radically different from everyone else to live in God's Way, so we got, "Thou shall not kill" and fire and plagues and all that.

But the New Testament changed everything with the coming of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is totally radical. Forget what culture and mankind have done to the message so often through puritanical teaching. Jesus is all about love, and loving others, and receiving love. It's astounding to encounter this for the first time. At least it was for me.
Yep. Don't always get up in the debate, but yep. Christ is awesome and I'm more or less pagan. He's still awesome.
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  #16  
Old Apr 03, 2014, 04:49 AM
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Originally Posted by PeeJay View Post
So, the God of the Old Testament is perfect and people got punished for falling short and doing bad things such as being selfish and not caring for orphans and widows.

And God had to be really judgmental at the time because remember in ancient history people would kill each other for sport. And so the Jews had to be radically different from everyone else to live in God's Way, so we got, "Thou shall not kill" and fire and plagues and all that.

But the New Testament changed everything with the coming of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is totally radical. Forget what culture and mankind have done to the message so often through puritanical teaching. Jesus is all about love, and loving others, and receiving love. It's astounding to encounter this for the first time. At least it was for me.

And for me too :-)

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  #17  
Old Apr 03, 2014, 10:27 AM
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So, I didn't grow up as a believer or in the church. And so everything about it holds this kind of newness and promise to me. And so much of it is so shocking -- just picking up a Bible and seeing the wealth of human experience that is captured within.

The Book of Psalms has some great lines on anger. I think it teaches us that it is OK to feel intense emotion.

Check out this prayer, from the third psalm:

"Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked."

Isn't that great? This guy (King David) is basically praying for revenge on his enemies. I often feel this angry because of abuse and it helps to just pray about the anger, and acknowledge that I wish harm upon another human being. Is that healthy? Well, who cares? It is human and God knows it.

Alternatively, when I'm feeling judged or outcast, I think about Jesus and how he had dinner with the prostitutes and tax collectors. (At the time, those who collected taxes for the Roman Emperor were considered the scourge of society. As lowly and despicable as traitors and prostitutes.)

And the well-to-do righteous men in town were shocked and outraged. Here was this Jesus guy eating dinner with the low lifes.

And then Jesus had the nerve to tell folks that, "the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you."

He just turned everything on its head. He's like the crazy nastyass honey badger, lol, he does what he wants. (In the name of love.)

To the OP: I'm glad your T let her humanity show through to you and helped you with that self-disclosure.
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Old Apr 03, 2014, 12:07 PM
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sabby sabby is offline
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While we appreciate the supportive posting and discussion on the OP's subject, unfortunately this thread goes against our Community Guidelines:

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Limit your direct discussion of politics and religion, as people usually hold pretty strong opinions about these topics (you can discuss spirituality in the Sanctuary for Spiritual Support)
That being said, there is a work-around for discussing this subject. One can join a Social Group that is already set up to discuss religion or one can start their own Social Group to discuss this particular subject. You will find them here - http://forums.psychcentral.com/groups/

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