Wherever we are in our spiritual lives or journeys, we are free to redefine ourselves however we may decide to do so. We can take a step in any direction and arrive closer to God if that is our desire. I commend this spiritual freedom to you, for our identities are partially hidden from us though God knows them well. Growing and maturing involve becoming ever more what we were born to be and what God intends us to be. In Christ we become more fully ourselves.
Typically Christian ways of redefining ourselves may easily be named. Examples of them are giving thanks, repenting, forgiving, and turning the other cheek when we have been mistreated or disadvantaged.
The quality binding these examples together, however, is taking an action. We think of defining as speaking or writing words. But our words alone cannot redefine us, because we are both minds and bodies. We have to practice what we preach (or say) in order to redefine ourselves. Saying “I forgive you” alone does not redefine us, but saying “I forgive you” along with restoring a person to the same relationship as before completes the redefinition as a forgiving person.
I write these things to you so that the actions you take will lead you to God by way of Jesus Christ who claimed, “Whoever enters by me will be saved…I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Saint John 10:9-10).
hs3rd 