Parents, are you rebranding yourself? When I started college, I was barely 125 lbs soaking wet, yet ate everything in sight. When I decided that I wanted to cheer, it meant that I would have to gain some muscle. My cheer partners had cheered all through high school and were really strong. Since muscle weighs more than fat, some of the girls almost matched my weight. It’s embarrassing when the girl you are holding in the air is stronger than you are. The guys on the squad were really strong and they helped me get stronger. I didn’t want my partner to be nervous that I would drop her, so I hit the weight room. For many months, it was really frustrating. I didn’t notice any difference in how I looked. My “rebranding” from skinny high school swimmer to collegiate cheerleader didn’t seem to be happening in any noticeable ways, except maybe that I could yell louder. After a couple of years, I saw an old friend that I had not seen in a while. He said, “what happened to you?” I wiped my face off and looked at my clothes, I thought something was wrong. He said, “you have shoulders.” As I was becoming a cheerleader, I had changed, I was 165 lbs and could finally hold a girl in the air without making her nervous that I would drop her. Little by little, day by day, I was changing. Of course, I haven’t seen 165 on my scales since then. I’ve had both shoulders surgically repaired and the thought of throwing a girl into the air and catching her makes me hurt. My kids have rebranded me as “old” with every new grey hair and groan when I climb steps.
This body will eventually give out, it will eventually be rebranded as “dead.” But the good news is God’s plan includes a new body after I die. The rebranding began the day I connected my life to Jesus in loving attachment. He initiated the connection and attachment and I simply reciprocated. His plan is not just for when this earthly body gives out, this rebranding is for all of me, right now. It changes how we act, how we see the world, how we treat other people, what is important… it completely changes who we are. Sometimes I need a reminder that I am no longer the way I used to be, but I am now a whole new person… I sometimes forget that I now think differently, I have new values, I have new habits. I need reminding that when I belong to Jesus, I don’t need to stay the 125 lb weakling. Everyday in the faith I need to grow and learn and become stronger. I need to be helping hold up other people who need a boost. I need to be helping others get stronger. The apostle Paul loved a group of people who had been branded as “Christians,” but they were still living like their old selves. They were treating each other badly, not representing Jesus very well, they were still living out of their old set of selfish values. Paul reminded them, they were not just a rebranded version of their old selves, but a brand new creation. He tells them, “... if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (CSBBible) This pandemic seems to be giving us lots of opportunities to act like our new selves. We have a chance to be in the spiritual weight room everyday. Hopefully, when we re-emerge people will say, “what happened to you?” “You are more joyful, stronger, and more like Jesus than you used to be.”
Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!
