Tomorrow my son turns 9 years old.  I’m the repetitive type of parent, meaning that I say things on a daily basis that have almost become robotic with responses from my children.  I typically ask my son in a moment of a lapse in judgement, “What does a man do?” and his (sometimes) robotic response is: “A man owns his mistakes.”

This is not intended as a “get off my lawn”- type of post even though this next statement may feel like it.  We have become a people that don’t process a mistake as something to own but rather something to deflect. 

Jesus isn’t afraid of our mistakes.  In fact, that is why He left heaven to come to the planet! I like to tell people that when Jesus came to earth He knew that He was coming to step in it.

But there is this weird thing that happens internally in us that has created a culture of hiding and false personas.  The enemy has lied to us to the point of having us believe that our sin is something we must hide.  But Scripture tells us in many ways to expose it, to bring it into light, to confess it to one another, etc...

Why are we trying to deal with sin this way?

A few years ago, I was meeting up with an old friend I hadn’t connected with in a while.  When I asked him how he was doing he answered, “You know, man, just trying to love Jesus and deal with my sin.”  I slapped him.  I DID!  LITERALLY.  I slapped him across the face and he was kind of shocked.

But we are never called to “deal” with our sin.  Jesus is the one who has dealt with our sin!  Our job is understanding “who we are and whose we are” (one of my Dad’s repetitive parenting statements).

Who we are and whose we are is this: we are sinners in need of a savior who, because of Jesus, can be adopted into God’s family and become His kids with all the benefits of being heirs to the throne of God.

Own it! Own the fact that you are a sinner living in a broken system and still sin.

Own it!  Own the fact that Jesus is the Savior and you aren’t.

Own it! Own the fact that you have been adopted into God’s family, not to be taken back by the world.

Own it! Own the fact that you are now an heir to the throne of God, a child of the King, a royal priesthood, a holy nation!

I can own my mistakes without fear because I know that Jesus has paid for them.  I can own my identity because Jesus has bought it with His blood.  I can live a life that is transparent and genuine because I have the King of Kings as a Father and He has my back.