Well, hello there and happy New Year! (Big, deeply warm hug)
I’d like to continue our conversation about Complex-PTSD and sense of self: What does Jesus say? Jesus defines our identity and value by addressing the spiritual elements of our sense of self, the spiritual side of our identity. If you’re wondering who you are, what your value is and the importance you hold, hear me clearly… You are an image bearer, designed to reflect the likeness of God both physically and spiritually.
Bearing the image of God does not mean that we are gods ourselves – nor will we become gods. We bear the likeness of God, bringing God joy when He sees His likeness reflected by us.
When I’m in a yoga class I often hear, “the light in me sees and acknowledges the light in you.” I’ve always loved this because the reflection of God is always the light in us. In my head I always rephrase this and say, “The reflection of God/Jesus in me acknowledges and sees the reflection of God/Jesus in you.”
The beautiful thing about our spiritual beings reflecting God is that our value is then measured by the value of God. Since He has already established our importance and value as a reflection of Him, our only job is to own that importance and do beautiful things with it! Here are some examples of how we spiritually reflect God:
Free will
As image bearers we have the right to choose good and evil for ourselves. When we choose good (God’s definition of good) over evil, we reflect God.
Wisdom
As image bearers we reflect God’s wise nature. The ability to process through wisdom and folly is an image bearing trait. The belief in the idea of wisdom and folly is also an image bearing trait.
Love
As image bearers we reflect God’s loving nature. God, being the source of love, does not require anything from us to give us love. The idea of unconditional love and the ability to love unconditionally is an image bearing trait. When we love unconditionally, we reflect the kind of love that only God can give 100% of the time.
Forgiveness
As image bearers we reflect God’s forgiving nature. God forgives, which is why we believe in the idea of forgiveness. And when we forgive, we reflect God’s image.
Sometimes it’s hard to reflect the image of God even though we were designed to do so. This is why God tells us that if we choose to believe in Him, He will gift us with His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God who, when we surrender ourselves to Him, helps us to make choices that reflect God – using our image bearing traits. God is pleased with us when we reflect Him, but when we don’t reflect Him, it does not change our value.
Comment below letting me know your thoughts on this blog.
Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life and have life abundantly” (John 10:10b). Jesus created us as image bearers wanting us to know and believe that our identity is rooted in Him. With our identity in Christ as our foundation He wants us to have a clear sense of self, living out our lives in free will; He finds so much joy in us when out of that free will we reflect Him by loving, forgiving, being faithful and so on, so that our relationships flourish.
I hope you have a safe place to sleep tonight and a full belly. Praying for your mental health.
-Evangeline
For more on developing a relationship with Jesus while Living with C-PTSD, grab your copy of, Calling Him Trusted, Evangeline’s first book!
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