For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:14-17

Part of my Lenten fasting this year does not involve food (which is what we often think of when we hear "fast"). It involves stripping myself of the negative lens that colors my vision - my vision of the world, of others and most importantly, of myself. It's no secret that it is easier to hear and believe the bad, to hear the garbage that is whispered insidiously and repetitively by the master of lies through different voices in our lives. What captured my imagination for Lent this year, was this question: what would the world look like if each Christian disciple truly believed they were sacred and belonged to Christ? If we, like Christ, were able to take the lies of the evil one and counter it with our intimate knowledge of the voice of God, how different would the face of the earth be?

This brings us sometimes face to face with our own sinfulness and things that need work. However, if we passionately lived the truth that we are sacred and belong to God, that we are co-heirs to the heavenly Kingdom with Christ, then it is not those deficiencies that define us. We are not created to be garbage, regardless of all the voices telling us how much improvement we need. We are made for more than this. We are created beautiful, stains and all, in the image and likeness of our God. The deficiencies simply become part of the human condition of suffering that Christ helps us overcome through the Cross.