Glyn Barrett looks at how we define ourselves

Glyn Barrett

This year when I was in South Africa, my son Jaedon was approached by a friend who asked him a very interesting question. (Jaedon was two and a half at the time and he had been wearing a tracksuit top with the word 'LEGEND' on the back.) My friend said, 'Jaedon, are you a legend?' Jaedon thought about it for a while and then replied, 'No, I'm a spaceship!' We laughed, but it got me thinking......

Jaedon was wearing clothes that labelled him, in this case, as a 'legend'. My friend confirmed what the clothing said, and asked Jaedon if it was indeed true that he was a legend.

In life, so many things label you. Your clothes label you as something; people label you as something else (through their words and actions towards you). In that one small profound moment, Jaedon decided that he wasn't going to be what his clothes said he was and he certainly wasn't going to be labelled or defined by what someone called him. He wasn't having any of it. He wasn't a legend, he was a SPACESHIP!

When I was in school, I was bullied for several years. I began to think and act like a victim. It became a habit to me. I was used to thinking like a victim. I was used to behaving like a victim. But God helped me to see that I was NOT THAT man! I was able to throw off a label (bullied) that had contained me for a long time, and I was able to live a different life.

In the Bible, Jesus helps us to see that we need not be labelled or defined by things that have contained us! Maybe you have been labelled by your past, the future, your emotional or mental state, regrets, fears or failures. Jesus says, 'I have come that (you) may have life, and have it to the full.'

The story of Jesus is all about how He came to prove that only He could give FULL, MAXIMUM, ABUNDANT life.' He proved it by doing miracles (impossible feats that only God could perform).

There are over 30 distinct miracles that Jesus accomplished; one of the most famous is that he healed a man with leprosy. That man had been known as 'The man with leprosy' for a long time. He was defined by his leprosy, yet in a moment Jesus took away the very thing that labelled him. He was no longer 'The man with leprosy.' He was now to be known as....... 'The man'.

Similarly, when Jesus raised 'the dead girl' to life. She changed her label and now became, 'the girl.'

We read about 'The deaf and mute man,' who became 'the man'. Also 'The paralysed man' who became 'the man.' Don't forget 'The boy with the evil spirit' who became 'the boy' or 'the crippled woman' became 'the woman.'

For each of these people, Jesus took off their label. He changed the thing that contained them and helped them to really live life the way it was meant to be lived.

The great miracle of Jesus for you is that you no longer need to live your life defined and labelled. You are no longer dysfunctional, fat, a loser, forgotten, rich, poor, smart, stupid, black, white, the son of your father or daughter of your mother, a widow, alone. You are no longer just the result of life's circumstance. You are now:

The man, the woman, the kid, the boy, the girl.

When Jesus says, 'I've come to give you life to the full', it means that you are no longer defined by what's happened, but rather 'whose' you are!

The Bible says in John 1:12, 'To all who receive Him, to those who believe in Him, He gave the right to become the children of God!' Who are you? If you say yes to God, you become a child of God and that means that God gives you the power to become the person He destined you to be. Instead of life defining you, you are now able to bring definition to life.

You are not a legend, you are a spaceship!

Audacious is the nation shaking, people changing, life altering experience that you have been waiting for. It's more than a conference, it's a lifestyle. It's more than an event; it's a rising of a revolution. Audacious is all about creating bold, daring, fearless, dangerous, relentless, revolutionaries for the cause of Jesus Christ. With awesome worship, inspiring preaching and an experience that will leave you breathless, Audacious is the summer event you've been waiting for. Join us in the revolution - Glyn Barrett, Audacious Director.