Sometimes I’m answering somebody for what they said ten years ago, and they haven’t even finished telling me what they mean today. That’s a hard thing to catch in yourself. I can ask the Lord to help me walk into the holidays with peace, then spend half the drive over to a family gathering, building a case in my head as to why an argument will break out and how I am the one in the right. By the time I get there, the person I’m upset with is just standing in the kitchen asking me where I want to put the pie.
There’s a line in Ephesians 4 about putting on the new self that got me thinking. What would the people who know me best actually see me do differently? I can talk about who I am in Christ all day long. Then somebody asks a question I wish they’d leave alone, and there I am, with a chance to live what I say I believe.
I opened today’s study with a testimony Pastor Todd Smith shared from the North Georgia Revival. It starts with a man coming up out of the baptismal water and whispering one word, “Precious”. What happened after that is the part I want you to hear for yourself.
Grab your Bible, pull up a seat, and press play …... We’re opening Ephesians 4 together.
About the study
Restored Identity Through the Holidays is a weekday Bible study with Amy Dial, host of The Worthy Womb. We’re reading a few of Paul’s letters together to remember who we are as daughters of God and learn how to live from that place when the holidays bring up grief, family pressure, or old shame.
Scriptures for further study
Today’s passage · Ephesians 4
From earlier in Ephesians · Ephesians 1:20–21, Ephesians 2:14–16 and 2:20, and Ephesians 3:14–21
Walking by the Spirit · Matthew 5:14, Galatians 5:22–23, and Zechariah 4:6
Optional cross-references for Ephesians 4:8–10 · Luke 16:22–26 and Revelation 1:18
Christ’s church and the gifts that build it up · Matthew 16:16–18, Acts 19:1–10 and 19:18–20, Exodus 33:11, Matthew 9:37–38, 1 Peter 5:2–3, 2 Timothy 2:15, and James 1:22
Where to find Pastor Todd’s testimony
Rev. Robert Krech recounts Pastor Todd Smith’s testimony in The Presence of God. The story begins around 13:00. Listen or read the sermon transcript.
If this stirred something up for you…….
If you already know what the holidays tend to bring back up and you’re tired of going through that same cycle of shame, we can talk before you’re in the middle of it. I offer a free Identity Restoration Consultation where we can talk through what’s coming up for you and what walking through this season with Jesus could look like.
