For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Romans 8:14‭-‬17 NIVUK

It has now been nearly a year since my Cancer diagnosis. It really has affected all areas of our lives and dominated everything we have done. So many areas of our lives have been put on hold as family life has revolved around treatments, recovery and seemingly endless appointments.

While it has affected me physically it has affected us all mentally and spiritually. Sometimes for the good, but often not.

The affect of any long term illness is that it can start to define us and become part of who we are. We can become isolated, the illness can start to dominate our lives and our perspective shrinks and revolves around what we are going through.

The truth is, as a Christian, I am defined by who I am in Christ. Everything else is secondary. This doesn’t just apply to illnesses; our backgrounds, past hurts or mistakes can also define us if we let them.

As a Christian, I am a child of God.
I no longer need to be a slave to anything not the past, current struggles or future fears.

This is the truth that should dominate our lives
This is the truth that should expand our perspective to see God’s great plans for us and others.
This is the truth that should define us.

So how do we get out of this rut we sometimes get into when we lose perspective and allow other things to dominate our thinking. The Bible tells us that “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
(2 Corinthians 10:5 NIVUK)

This requires us to intentionally let go of these ways of thinking and speak truth to our hearts. I’m not saying this is easy, but these truths don’t change when struggles come our way. We are still and have always have been loved, chosen and set free through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection.

Don’t let past hurts dictate your current choices, let Gods wisdom guide you.
Don’t let previous mistakes rob you of your future hope of an eternity with Jesus.
Don’t let current struggles define who you are in Christ. “We are children of God and are co-heirs with Christ and share in his glory”. This is a far greater identity than anything we previously gone through or anything that currently dominates our lives.