Show Me Your I.D.

The fear of identity crisis is very powerful.

The various ways to define identity (please see the list and explore).

The human being has several default identities already instilled in them.

One is surreal and seeded within the heart, the rest external and always trying to make their way in.

Clothes, culture, religion, family home, education, etc., are mostly external things that the human is defined by, mostly not according to their personal choices but, according to their upbringing.

Notice how (and why) some people have abandoned an identity they were raised with for another identity.

People try to 'change', and usually it is by the things a person sees outside of themselves and trying so earnestly to make the inside change by what is drawn in from the outside.

What about the internal identity?

What about the unifying quality we all have inside?

Perhaps upbringing taught us how different, or at-odds, we are from others (or them from us).

Surely there are unique detailed differences, but how about the common bonds of humanity that cannot be ignored no matter how much one tries to convince themselves otherwise?

This indifference is likely one of the attacks against Christ when He seemed to be, from a religious stance, breaking away from tradition.

Those that followed Christ embraced His personal approach to religious ideology; the path of righteousness without having to perform religious rituals.

Religion (and repetitive ritual) fails to penetrate the heart.

Can a repetitive practice bring forth a heart at peace with all things and all mankind no matter the circumstance?

This is why it is so easy to judge others by their appearance, yet the heart cannot be seen nor can such hearts be seen developing from where they've been or where they will be.

Those who come to realize their true identity in Christ become what God intended the law to be.

God incorporated His law in man's lives by writing it on their hearts.

These are the things of the spirit that words sometimes fail to convey, but only the soul who has such a heart can understand and praise God for His mysterious works.

There is a difference between those who love and those who love less, or don't love at all, but love other things.

Some love religion, but they don't love nor know God.

Some love the traditions they've inherited, and their identities reflect such traditions.

These are seemingly useless in forwarding the righteousness imitated by outer appearance and false humility.

Do you actually obey the law?

Christ's identity summed up the entirety of God's law with love:

Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. 

- Romans 13: 10

Those who found Christ's identity within themselves soon lived out what the law prescribed.

Every subsequent generation went on to encompass the variety of ideas in the world until Today.

The faith (the Way) stays the same while the language, culture, ideas and attitudes change; the maturing of civilization.

To the person who was born into a civilized society (modern America and other western countries where domestically war is several generations removed), it is difficult to perceive hostilities being an every-day occurrence.

Law and order persists despite moments of conflict.

Is it any surprise that western civilizations, although some may ignore the manner their cultures have developed, are founded on Christ?

The relative day to day peace, in contrast to outright war on the streets as in other places on earth.

In most civilized societies, one is typically not in danger of possible hostilities as soon as they step outside their home...or that their government may collapse at any moment, or some rebel uprising will overcome their government or police force.

Yes, it is arguable such places may exist in America and elsewhere western-cultured.

Where such pockets of hostilities may exist, notice you have a community that has rebelled against the prescribed law and order of the greater society, or the international community (which again has been built upon the Christ identity).

For those who fail to love one another, what is realized is stiff penalties for the murderer in society.

As man grows into the Christ identity they were destined for, we find lesser and lesser justifications for murderous actions.

In the ancient world, it was survival of the fittest, and such an ideal benefited those leveraged with temporal power.

Today, notice how in certain societies the weak have government support; a voice, a vote, a choice, movement, opportunity for employment or to start their own business.

Why?

Because Christ retired eye-for-an-eye retribution and His reign (through His heavenly and earthly kingdom) has spread over the face of the earth.

The kingdom is within the believer (the identity from within I previously mentioned).

The kingdom is not visible according to religious organization affiliation nor outer appearance.

Christ is the identity of love revealed from within; the epitome of man's glory on earth.

Those whose hearts are touched when they hear, read, or reflect the Word of God (which is Yeshua), resonate with what God had written on their hearts from eternity.

These, like the identifiable prototype Yeshua, are the true martyrs, saints, Christians (Christ like).

They are not the killers, but are those killed (sacrificed).

They are not the murderers, but the ones martyred for their faith in Christ.

As to those who believe they do God's work when killing, it says this:

...in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or Me. I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them... 

- John 16: 2b-4a

The flesh fears death, and struggles with the rite of passage that is death.

But consider: the spirit that comprises the kingdom of God yearns to return to its Source.

The flesh is a lesser identity, while the spirit is your true identity; you are a spirit being experiencing a temporary material existence.