“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
-Matthew 3: 17
Jesus’ crucifixion won for all of us our identity as sons of God the Father. Jimmy Mitchell assured all of us listening that there is nothing more important in our lives than that singular fact. We live lives where it is easy to forget. Our identities can be so rooted in things like sports, academics, or our relationships that we can be distracted from the reality that Christ calls us His brothers.
Jimmy shared of his own struggles, including stories about living two different lives in college. He also shared about challenging relationships with his grandfather, father, and brother because love was never discussed. Spending years in discernment of what he was being called to do, Jimmy found himself spending time as a seminarian and as a missionary. Throughout that time, he struggled with the question, “Do I have what it takes?”
Finding the Answer
Ultimately, Jimmy discovered there is only place to look for the answer. “We must first know ourselves as sons to receive the loving Fatherhood of God.” We cannot find our identity on our own. Nothing comes close to the sonship we have been given by God. We so easily forget that truth and take our eyes off of Jesus. We try to build our identity on so many things, but the world can never answer the question of who we are. “Only Christ and Christ alone” gives us the answer.
“None of you are the sum total of your failures. None of you are the sum total of your mistakes. That’s not who you are… your sins are not your identity.” These are the lies that Jimmy encouraged us to reject, so that we can embrace the truth of our identity in Christ.
You can watch the whole men’s session here.
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