An Easter dare

Christian and non-Christian, I dare you to change the way you look at yourself this Easter week. If you're not up for the risk, don't read any further. If you're ready to start a personal journey, I urge you to proceed honestly.

Ready? Ask yourself the question, "How much does God's love influence the way I feel about myself?"

Halfway into David Benner's slim book The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery, he writes, "Set the book aside for a moment and reflect on your knowing God's love. How much does this knowing form the foundation of your identity?"

I didn't need a moment: I reflexively wrote in the margin: "Not at all!"

How's that for knee-jerk honesty? Ugh. At age 48, I've been a Christian for 23 years and have defined myself as a sinner saved by grace . . . with the emphasis on "sinner."

How would you respond to the question? Don't be afraid to be honest. If you answered that you're a sinner deeply loved by God, I am thrilled for you. But please keep reading. You may learn to help someone like me!

"Some Christians base their identity on being a sinner," Benner writes. "I think they have it wrong---or only half right. You are not simply a sinner; you are a deeply loved sinner. And there is all the difference in the world between the two."

If you are a Christian, you have placed your faith in Christ's loving work on the cross that paid the legal price for your sins. You and I are sinners loved by Christ. John Calvin said that we should feel that we owe everything to God and are cherished by his care. Moreover, we should understand He is the author of all our blessings and that we should place our entire happiness with Him in truth and sincerity.

Until we firmly grasp that Christ loves us and we learn to abide in His love, it's likely we won't deal with Him truthfully and sincerely. We'll hide from Him. Benner suggests we'll disguise our need for forgiveness with fig leaves of good works and we'll engage in intricate works of sin management. If we discount Christ's love as part of our identity, we'll forfeit the opportunity to live as free men and women and we'll cheat ourselves out of the full measure of joy Christ has for us.

The truth will set us free. I'm a sinner who is deeply loved by Christ and saved by His loving work on the cross. How about you?