Identity Crisis
Ok, so this post won't really have much to do with CrossFit. However, I still feel the need to share.
So, yesterday I attended a Domestic Violence Seminar hosted by the Whitley County Domestic Violence Task Force (WCDVTF). One of the things discussed/presented was understanding why individuals who are in abusive/violent relationships stay in those relationships. One of the primary reasons is because the dynamics of the relationships causes them to lose their own identity and assume/integrate/take on the identity of the abuser. One of the reasons it can be so hard to leave is because now that person has to imagine life on their own, with their own identity and their own responsibility. Aside from being very scary as it is something new, many individuals just don't know how to live apart from the abuse, which is why so often those who get out of one abusive relationship end up in a different abusive relationship or go back to their abuser.
Today my quiet time focussed on our identity in Christ. Reading Romans 6:1-14 Paul asks why we continue to sin if we have found freedom in Christ. I realized the parallels between who we are as sinners versus who we are in Christ. Going back to our sinful life is just like an individual who returns to an abusive relationship. Depending on how old we were before we became Christians, much of what we did as a non-believer has become a part of who we are--it has become a part of our identity. Now as Christians, we are called to be someone different. We have been given a life-line to remove ourselves from this situation and live as we were meant to live.
So, yesterday I attended a Domestic Violence Seminar hosted by the Whitley County Domestic Violence Task Force (WCDVTF). One of the things discussed/presented was understanding why individuals who are in abusive/violent relationships stay in those relationships. One of the primary reasons is because the dynamics of the relationships causes them to lose their own identity and assume/integrate/take on the identity of the abuser. One of the reasons it can be so hard to leave is because now that person has to imagine life on their own, with their own identity and their own responsibility. Aside from being very scary as it is something new, many individuals just don't know how to live apart from the abuse, which is why so often those who get out of one abusive relationship end up in a different abusive relationship or go back to their abuser.
Today my quiet time focussed on our identity in Christ. Reading Romans 6:1-14 Paul asks why we continue to sin if we have found freedom in Christ. I realized the parallels between who we are as sinners versus who we are in Christ. Going back to our sinful life is just like an individual who returns to an abusive relationship. Depending on how old we were before we became Christians, much of what we did as a non-believer has become a part of who we are--it has become a part of our identity. Now as Christians, we are called to be someone different. We have been given a life-line to remove ourselves from this situation and live as we were meant to live.
"The thief [abuser, accuser, Satan] comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10 (ESV)
Those who gave their stories yesterday of how they were able to leave an abusive relationship shared the difference in them and in their children since leaving the relationship. One mother shared that her children's eyes sparkle now and they laugh all the time and have fun. Such a perfect picture of what our lives should look like after Christ. Is it going to be easy? Absolutely not. There may be so many things that are hard or difficult and we may have to relearn a lot about what to do, how to do it. More importantly, we have to change our identity and how we think about ourselves. We've had an identity shift and we have to adjust what we do based on that shift.
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