Definition

 Definition

 

The definition we use, for example the words we use, makes a difference.  During the time I spent living in various southern states of the US I learned that “Bless your heart” meant something very different than it did in Upstate NY.  In preparing for my upcoming trip to Ireland I have been attempting to learn the difference between words we use here that have a different definition or meaning there.  In Ireland a boot is where someone may put their spare car tire where here it is something I put on my foot.  In Ireland runners are something you put on your feet while here it is people we watch in the marathon. 

Definitions and how exactly we define things matter.  Now when it comes to who is right or wrong with their definitions between the Irish and Americans I really don’t care.  Yet when it comes to how God defines things or people and how we define them that is very different.  Sadly, too many people, and too many of them Christians, define themselves, circumstance and others by their meanings instead of God’s. 

You may not feel well and the Doctor, many have given you a diagnosis that says you sick, or afflicted with a disease maybe even terminal. You can be defined by that or by the fact that God says you were healed 1 Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. 

Many define themselves by what they used to be or by what the world says.  They may call you an addict, a criminal, a liar, a cheat a worthless bum and some other words that I will not use. If you have repented and received the free gift of salvation God says you are new and old things are passed 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 

God says you are righteous 2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

God says that you are Son Galatians 4:5-7 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

 

These are just a couple of examples of how we need to define ourself, our life and our circumstance by seeing what God says. STOP defining and speaking about and over yourself and your circumstances ANYTHING that is not what God has defined or has said.