Freed to be Ourselves
By Marcel Rebiai
“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
The only way to truly come to know oneself and one another is to step into the light. In the light we no longer have to hide the reality within our heart and we become accountable to those with whom we are united. I can now show all my desires and needs, with all my strengths and weaknesses, along with all my joys and hardships. Finally, we can experience security, belonging and liberation in our lives. I then also become capable of empowering others to do the same, whether in my marriage, my family or in any other form of fellowship or community. Then, God’s kingdom of peace, joy, and justice can unfold in my life and in the lives of those around me.
As humans, it’s difficult for us to accept that freedom, in the sense of becoming detached or released from something, doesn’t actually exist. We come into this world as creatures with no chance of sustaining life independently. We are governed and driven by the laws and principles of nature and our environment – often against our will. We are defined by our legacy, our past, our ethnic, social, geographical and political circumstances. We cannot discover our identity – the knowledge of who we are – without relating to other factors and associating ourselves with them.
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.
