Owned by Identity, Bought by a Savior - Crosswalk the Devotional - January 25

Truths observed at the intersection of faith and life by Crosswalk.com editors [Crosswalk.com Logo]( Crosswalk: The Devotional [Devotionals]( [Newsletters]( [e-Cards]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Owned by Identity, Bought by a Savior by John UpChurch You are not your own, for you were bought with a price ([1 Corinthians 6:19-20](. Arguments about "identity" should end at this verse. For non-Christians, it’s meaningless noise. For Christians, it’s everything. We own nothing from our hair follicles to our toenails. Every drop of cytoplasm, every hormone, every spark of our synapses was paid for in full. Christ didn’t die for the “good” parts or the parts we let Him have; He wanted all of us. That’s why it makes no sense for us to justify what’s natural or what makes us happy or what satisfies us. To do so breaks us into pieces, compartmentalizing where we will and will not surrender, what we will and will not hand over to Christ. But the choice isn’t ours. The price paid was for the whole shebang. The heart loves to mass-produce idols, and identity works just as well as anything else. Deep inside, the hammers of what’s just and fair and right beat in time with our resistance to surrender. We know who we are, and we can’t change. But the possibility of change is completely beside the point. Even if no change comes before the perfect does ([1 Corinthians 1:10]( even if the desires never stop, we have no room to act on them or justify them. We have no ownership in ourselves. Not even a partial vacation stake. It all belongs to Jesus. Christ urged us to follow Him with the heavy weight of lumber slung across our shoulders ([Mark 8:34](. That image is one of ownership. Why else would we take up humiliation and hardship to struggle after a bloodied Lamb? It isn’t an image of coercion, but of willingness. Just as the Messiah surrendered Himself to be crucified, we crucify ourselves to admit surrender. The arguments about orientations or ingrained needs or natural behaviors focus on one thing: us. They point to who we are and what we want. Put succinctly, such discussions are nothing more than navel-gazing. We’re peering down at what makes us tick and letting that determine our course. And ultimately, none of it matters. That navel we’re peering so deeply into belongs to Christ. He bought it. [CONTINUE READING →]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( You May Also Like: [7 Phrases Christians Like to Say That Aren't Biblical]( Lori Hatcher We’ve all heard them—phrases that sound wise, insightful, and biblical. But are they really? [CONTINUE READING →]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Can Loved Ones in Heaven Look Down on You?]( RJ Thesman Can our loved ones look down on us and occasionally visit? [CONTINUE READING →]( [Crosswalk.com Logo]( [Read about Salem Web Network]( | [Unsubscribe From This Email]( [Email Preference Center]( | [View in Browser]( © 2021 Salem Web Network. All rights reserved. 111 Virginia Street, Suite 500, Richmond, VA 23219. This email is never sent unsolicited. You are receiving this email because your email address, {EMAIL}, is signed up to receive newsletters, updates, and special offers from Crosswalk.com - The Devotional. [Link](