Where Are You From?

By Janelle Hill

I am a preacher’s kid.  We are a strange breed, and there are many of us around.  Some, like me, have met the Lord and are following Him.  Many, sadly, are not walking with the Lord, perhaps hurt or bitter.  Of course, most people are not preacher’s kids.  In fact each of us has a different story to tell of where we have come from – good families, broken families, oppressive families, abusive families, loving families.  We can blame our background for where we are now, or we may be proud of our background.  Maybe we are angry with the Lord for where He allowed us to grow up.

The apostle Paul was born a Jew of the Jews, given a proud heritage in his birth, and the most comprehensive education available at the time.  You could say he was the ‘preacher’s kid of all preacher’s kids’!!  Yet Paul said this about his birth and upbringing:  “I count them to be dung, so that I may win Christ and be found in Him”.  Paul uses strong language here as he describes his love for Christ.  Phil 3:8-9. 

It is interesting that Paul looks back at his upbringing here as he contemplates his walk ahead with the Lord.  Paul, we know, suffered greatly for the gospel, and yet even in this he says he counts “all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord”.  vs 7.

What about our upbringing and past?  Whether we feel privileged, or burdened and hurt by our upbringing, we can have the same attitude as Paul.  Instead of holding onto hurt or pride as if they were something valuable, we can find Christ, our real treasure.  Our hurt and pride then appear to us as dung – something that we do not want to hold onto. 

Paul went on to say, “one thing I do, forgetting the things behind and reaching forward to the things before, I press toward... the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:13-14).  Even more amazing still, given the sufferings of Paul, he says “for the lightness of our present affliction works out for us a far more excellent eternal weight of glory”.  2 Cor 4:17.  Wow!  Do we really know what Christ is calling us to receive?  Do we understand about this excellent eternal weight of glory?

The Bible says that Jesus Christ “was the true Light; He enlightens every man coming into the world”. John 1:9.   What hope we have!  Jesus Christ Himself is able to enlighten our heart so that we can understand the excellent, eternal weight of glory!  Unless He enlightens our heart then we will never be able to move on from hurt, bitterness or anger.  Unless He frees our heart, we will never be free.  For our sake, Christ came “to those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage”.  Heb 2:15.  Our past can hold us in bondage, either to hurt or pride, but Christ is able to free us from this bondage.

Where are you from?  Does it matter?  Yes, of course.  We are each called to honour our mother and father, whatever they were and are to us.  But more importantly, we must know where we are going.  Christ is well able to illuminate your heart so that the past is no longer a burden, and you too can press onwards to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.