Commitment and Identity
By Marcel Rebiai
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8:36
The way we view ourselves is shaped by what we hear from other people. “What do other people think of me?” This is one of the reasons we enter into relationships; we need to connect and unite in order to establish our true identity, which will free us and develop our lives.True identity allows for real freedom.
Without commitment we find no real identity and thus no real freedom that can allow us to be ourselves. But it’s also true that not all commitments and obligations we engage in set us free. Only Jesus can lead us to the liberating truths about God, as well as about ourselves and our neighbours, and only through our connection to Him can we really experience freedom in our lives. Every commitment and every obligation that is not founded on Jesus and on God’s Word will have power over our lives and enslave us. These commitments will never reveal to us the true identity or purpose of our lives.
God, as our creator, is the only One who does not dictate our lives. He designed our personalities and the purposes for our existence, thus He truly knows and understands us. He tells us,
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
We experience this salvation, this future and this hope for our lives when we become citizens of His kingdom, His children, part of the great fellowship of those who live in trust and obedience to God.
This devotional is taken from the book To See God by Marcel Rebiai. If you would like to order your own copy, please email us here, [email protected].
Marcel Rebiai is a board member of Revive Israel, and is inspiration for our community. Marcel was born in Algiers in 1953. He came to Switzerland as a war orphan and received faith in Jesus in his youth, which changed his life and made him a messenger of God’s love in Jesus. Since then, he has been faithfully working for the building of the community of Messiah. Marcel is the founder of the “Community of Reconciliation”, an organization that works for reconciliation between Jews and Arabs based on God’s forgiveness and love in Christ. Marcel teaches in various settings around the world about the love that God revealed to us in Jesus, a love that enables reconciliation. Marcel has been living in Jerusalem for the last 30 years, is married to Regula, and has four children and eleven grandchildren.
