Landmarks Along Our Path

Real, Authentic Faith in Jesus Christ

“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see” (Hebrews 11:1 NLT).

Our decision to no longer live our lives as a continual expression of our past, and to fully let go and trust God with our future, demands what the Bible refers to as faith.

On this journey, faith calls for us to accept some wonderful new realities on our adventure from brokenness to wholeness:

• We will trust Jesus with our entire life.
• We will not know what our future will look like.
• We will not reach our ultimate destination while on this earth.
• We will frequently feel as though we’re not in control.
• We will do many things we lack competence in doing.
• We will feel the pain of grief, loss, and disappointment.
• We will learn that being right might actually be wrong.
• We will realize that striving to be good is a disadvantage.
• We will have no one else to blame for our condition.
• We will become comfortable with being uncomfortable.
• We will realize no one can take this journey for us.
• We will experience true hope and wholeness.
• We will be deeply loved by Jesus.
• We will be completely forgiven by Jesus.
• We will be fully pleasing to Jesus.
• We will be totally acceptable to Jesus.
• We will be absolutely complete in Jesus.
• We will fully know and be fully known by Jesus.

The object of true, authentic Christian faith is Jesus!  No one else.  Nothing else.  When we place our faith and trust solely in Him, we are trusting that He fully knows us, unconditionally loves us, and that He can be trusted with every aspect of our lives.  When we cultivate this type of faith in our relationship with Jesus, we find real, lasting rest, peace, joy, contentment, and hope that is not dependent upon our circumstances, our relationships, or ourselves.

Landmarks Along Our Path

It’s important that we take a minute to really consider the actual implementation of the hundreds of concepts, principles, and truths we have learned through the preceding pages.  In summarizing the meaningful landmarks we’ve encountered along our path, these stand out the most to me.

• The power of paradox.
• Life is about being, not about doing.
• Identity dependence robs us of our true identity.
• Toxic shame is the absence of healthy shame in childhood.
• Shame and sin are passed down through the generations.
• Our adulthood is an equal and opposite story of our past.
• We contribute to our shame by staying in an endless cycle.
• Each of us is born with unique, God-given temperament needs.
• Soul work requires identifying and grieving losses of our past.
• Jesus is the good news for every form of human brokenness.
• We must turn from toxic people, places, and things.
• We must uncover lies and false beliefs from our past.
• We must rediscover our true identity in Christ.
• We must nurture lasting hope in others.
• God gives us the power to live our lives from the inside out!
• We each are God’s masterpiece!

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