Your sense of self is that durable core that defines who you are regardless of the situation. You wear a lot of hats, you have a lot of roles in life, you find yourself in a lot of different situations, but your “sense of self” is the part of you that is the foundation…the durable of core…of who you are that doesn’t change, regardless of your hat, your role or your situation.
On the other hand, your sense of worth comes from the things that make you feel significant, worthy and confident in your value. This combination of your “sense of self” and your “sense of worth” is how you get your identity.
Traditionally the church has taught the Christmas and Easter stories as if they are two distinct and separate stories. We compartmentalize them. The Christmas story is the story of Jesus robing himself in human flesh. We call it the Incarnation; which simply means “to put on flesh”. In the Incarnation, God took on human skin. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became Jesus Christ the Son of Man - He became one of us.
On the other hand, Easter is the story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. And while our celebrations of these events are only separated by a few months, they seem to be miles apart in our minds. But the story of God is one congruent story and when you disconnect the parts from each other, you end up missing something. So, let’s think about them as one complete story. Let’s look at Easter through the lenses of Christmas.
