Identity

Today I heard the cry of many people. I heard it in the voices of those around me and in places I could not see. I hear it across the room of the restaurant and I heard it from across the sea.

It is a cry of a people who just want to be. It is a cry of people who no longer want to be labeled. I heard the cry of a woman who no longer wanted to be known as depressed but as a woman who struggles with depression. I heard a man cry out that he was not a prideful man but a man who struggles with pride.

I heard the cry of many people today who feel that they cannot escape. They cannot escape their own self but other's are saying to do just that. They say 'depressed woman - stop being sad' or 'prideful man - think of yourself less.'

When did these people lose their identity? When did they go from boy to prideful man? Was it on a Thursday?...Monday?...God forbid it was on a Sunday!

I heard the cry of a man who no longer wanted to be a self-destructive person but a man who struggles with self-destruction. I heard the cry of a woman who no longer wanted to be known as materialistic but as someone who struggles with materialism.

If God created us each then did he create materialistic woman...? Or did he just create woman? And if he just created woman, then why do we slap other names on her? Did God give us the right to name her?

Why are people their sin? Why are people more their sin than their Savior? WHY IS IT THE HARDEST PART OF DYING TO OUR SELF IS CONVINCING OTHERS TO LET OUR SELVES BE DEAD TO OUR SIN?

I heard the cry of a man who no longer wanted to be known as a homosexual, but a man who struggles with homosexuality. I heard the cry of a woman who no longer wanted to be a slut but a woman who struggles with finding self-love.

Jesus did not look at the Samaritan woman and see an adulteress. He saw a woman who struggled with lust. God created humans that live in a world of struggles, but he did not create beings who would later find their lives in that struggle.

We need to stop it. We need to stop looking at people and identifying them with their struggles. We all just want to be people. We don't want to be our struggles. No one does. That is the cry of humanity. That is the longing in our hearts. We are all searching for identity and people daily notify us that it is in our struggles. JERK! WHORE! SLUT! GAY! SINNER! We are not our struggles.

Treat someone today as a human being. Treat everyone today as a human being. It is the greatest gift you can give them.