If you start with “I am not my own,” then some of your desires need to be crucified rather than celebrated. If you’re not your own but you belong to Christ, then as 1 Corinthians said, “You must glorify God with your body.” That’s one of the most countercultural verses. Your body is given not for your self-expression, but for God’s glorification.
“I Am My Own”
There was a creed—a sort of secular creed—that you may have seen before. I’ve referenced it in sermons. A woman wrote about how “I am my own” and it just went, “I am special, and everything about me is special,” and so on. The whole refrain was, “And I am my own.” It was a celebration of personal identity, self-esteem, and human uniqueness.
I doubt that the person who wrote it had ever read the Heidelberg Catechism, but it almost sounded like an anti-Heidelberg Catechism question 1, which is,
Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.
That might be the place to start with countercultural advice—I am not my own—because from that flows almost everything else (if not everything else). If you start with “I am my own; therefore, my self-expression is sacred,” then “I am my own” means “What I do with my body is my business.”
Subscribe to Free “Top 10 Stories” Email
Get the top 10 stories from The Aquila Report in your inbox every Tuesday morning.