"Our Identity in Christ"

"Our Identity in Christ"

You have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him. (Colossians 3:3-4, JB)

Can you move below the surface to who you are objectively? That’s what our Baptism was meant to announce to us: our identity in Christ. We are called to move back to that place of our identity in Christ – who we really are – whether we’ve done a single thing right our whole life. We hear about it in the story of the good thief. He had done everything wrong with his life. But at the moment of encounter with Christ, he was able to affirm a place of union and a place of identity, a place of trust. The Lord says, “Because you’re living out of that place, you’re already in paradise.” What a challenge to our notions of holiness! Right behavior does not necessarily lead to true identity, but true identity will eventually produce right behavior. The first looks like holiness; the second is.

from Preparing for Christmas with Richard Rohr