It was one Christmas I'll always remember.
Mark and I were limited on money for Christmas, and our kids would be getting a smaller number of gifts than usual.
I felt like a failure.
I look back on that season and now realize that the reason I felt like a failure was because I was basing my identity on something that was as changing as shifting sand. In this case it was our finances and ability to provide a certain gift-giving experience.
Looking more closely, I began to realize how often I do this. Too often I base my identity on my children's choices or behavior (both good and bad), my job title or lack
thereof, my husband's job title or lack thereof, the house we live in, the car we drive, and other changing circumstances that are never meant to define me, but I nonetheless use them as a measuring stick in my life.
I know I'm not alone in this. It's easy for us to do.
This baby in a manger that we celebrate during this season is the one who sets our identity. Jesus Christ. God on earth. He's the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We can't let sinking sand define us. Instead we have to build our identity on a Solid Rock (tweet this!).
As you celebrate Christmas, thank God for his defining love, his defining grace, and his defining truth that illuminates our true identity.
And remember, it isn't determined by how many presents are under the Christmas tree in any way.
Joining you in the journey,
Jill Savage
Wife to Mark
Mom of Anne, Evan, Erica, Kolya, and Austin
Nana to Rilyn, Landon, and Marie
