{"id":4448,"date":"2013-07-10T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2013-07-10T08:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/?p=4448"},"modified":"2015-02-16T10:26:18","modified_gmt":"2015-02-16T10:26:18","slug":"code-ode-12-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/code-ode-12-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"Code Ode 12: Identity (continued)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Read this:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten and everything is new. 2. Corinthians. 5, 17. (Code Bible).<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Reread<\/strong> Code 11. \u201cIdentity\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Recite this out loud:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our problem surely is ourselves.
\nWe seek meaning only from this World,
\nIdentity kept safe within ourselves.
\nOur gods are built on us or on this World
\nBut like all idols they have feet of clay.
\nThey\u2019re crushed beneath the weight of our demand
\nFor meaning; they can\u2019t cope in any way.
\nSome things gain the upper hand,
\nBecome addictions and destroy us.
\nWould-be good things, once they are our gods
\nFail or feed our pride or just annoy us.
\nTurning sour or soured by us
\nMoney cannot satisfy us;
\nMoney, though, become our god, will buy us.
\nIn all this we may harm others,
\nEven those who love us.
\nAnd the start of our bright gleams
\nOf selfless, brave humanity
\nGet smothered in the sweet daydreams
\nOf comfort-loving apathy.
\nAnd death will have the final say.
\nThe Master Joker has the laugh
\nOn us upon our final day.<\/p>\n

Unless, unless, unless;
\nMy identity does not reside
\nEntirely inside myself;
\nI don\u2019t have gods of this world,
\nBut another God, beside myself.
\nA God who is all good.
\nYou know\u2014that one;
\nThe God who, nailed to a piece of wood
\nDied in Jesus, a man, God\u2019s son.
\nI don\u2019t need to fight
\nTo build my self-esteem
\nIf, to my delight, it seems
\nIt was for me, The King\u2019s son died.
\nBut still I can\u2019t look down in pride
\nOn others when, to put me right
\nThe price was that He had to die.
\nI don\u2019t need to win your favour
\nWith some con or compromise
\nFor popularity is no great thing
\nFor me, because, to my surprise,
\nAlready I\u2019ve approval\u2014from The King.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m His forgiven friend, His fighter,
\nHis adopted son,
\nRescued from my flaws, from death, by Him,
\nNot because of any good I\u2019ve done
\nBut just because He is amazing.
\nAnd He cares for me, which is the same thing.
\nThat\u2019s who I am, that\u2019s me,
\nStrong in His strength, in that identity,
\nIn gratitude to live for Him and not for me.
\nStrength that breaks and then remakes my heart.
\nPower to control myself
\nBut blow my apathy apart.
\nBecause it comes from Him, there\u2019s no illusion,
\nNo room for pride, it clears my mind;
\nSweeps from my eyes the veil of self delusion.<\/p>\n

Those idols of this world,
\nAnd would-be good things, could-be gods,
\nNow have their rightful place unfurled.
\nSo I have a loyalty, a bond
\nTo an authority, beyond
\nThat of my family,
\nI can appeal to, to be strong,
\nTo discipline some wayward son
\n(A son who\u2019s loved but in the wrong)
\nAnd try to stop him being undone
\nBy this world\u2019s dark attractions.<\/p>\n

I can keep fit, free of addiction,
\nNot feeding some imaginary fiction
\nIn my head of me as Superman,
\nBut fit for Jesus to command,
\nWho both owns and lives in me.
\nWhat better reason could there be
\nFor keeping fit, addiction-free?<\/p>\n

Money, now, like all His gifts,
\nIs, in my hands, a tool, a weapon
\nI can use with all my might
\nIn His fight against oppression
\nIn His name and so to claim,
\nFor His name the honour and the fame
\nThat name deserves, without reserve.
\nSo may His banner be unfurled
\nTo everyone throughout the World.<\/p>\n

My security, safe in His plans
\nI can risk for others, in His hands.
\nAs through all falls, and loss I carry on,
\nHis hands will grip and work and never cease,
\nTill I, like Him, in beating death, become
\nAt last His everlasting masterpiece.<\/p>\n

If all this is true and I refuse,
\nThe Bible calls it \u2018sin\u2019 and me, a rebel;
\nSelf-centred on a course I can\u2019t excuse.<\/p>\n

<\/div>