Christ in Me is the only thing I need

 "Getting a haircut makes me feel confident!"

"I need those shoes...they help me feel more confident!"

"No, I can't wear that...that outfit doesn't make me feel confident"

UGH!

Feeling confident... confident of what?

Confident of how other people view you?  Is that the goal? Status?

I give up...

I get very frustrated at how Dylan places way too much emphasis on appearance.  I give him lectures.  I point him to Scripture.  I preach.  But... I feel like a failure, because of two reasons:

1.  I give in to his requests way too often...so I don't think he actually listens to anything I say: I did get him the shoes in the end...sigh...

2.  I do the same thing he does...

OK, I don't base my confidence on shoes, and clothes and haircuts.  But I do place it on external/material things:  house, car, kitchen, bathroom, office, phone, job, paycheck, savings account, promotion.  I can't complain about Dylan, because I too, place my worth on my possessions just as much as he does.  I kill myself at work, but I rejoice because I like the money and the status that it brings me. I push myself ... but I smile when I think of the extra income at the end of the month.  I'm exhausted, but I like the power.

I'm a hypocrite.  

Sigh...

My preaching to Dylan, is actually a lecture to myself.  I'm the one who needs to hear the message.  I'm the one who needs to be reminded that my identity is not on the things I have, but on Jesus the Christ.  I'm the one who needs to keep the truth of His mercy and forgiveness and grace on the forefront of my life so I never take anything for granted...so I never believe the lie that it was by my own power that I have accomplished what I have...so I never forget to be humble and give thanks for every single blessing God has been so generous to grant me...so I am always aware that it is all His, and that His grace is what sustains me.

Our identity cannot be based on the things of this world.  Our sense of worth must not come from the things we own or the treasures we pile up in the material realm.  Our confidence must not be founded on how others see us.  If we are empty inside...we have nothing at all.  The Holy Spirit is the engine that moves us from within to declare we are children of the Most High!  Therefore, it is by this truth, the truth of Christ in us, that we are firmly planted on Him as Our Solid Rock...regardless of what we are or what we might look like while we are on this shore.

By the Power of the Spirit living in me, I declare, despite what others may see...all that God has done:

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

 My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place,

when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139: 13-16)

"Of course we all want nice things...and God is gracious enough to give them to us...but...when those nice things become our idols, that's when we cross the line."  These are the last words I said to Dylan yesterday as we were doing some Birthday shopping for him.  I'm not sure he understood it...but I think I did...I pray I did.  Amen!