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Writer's pictureWendy Elzinga

What we've been born with


Babies, they are all fresh and new and are scented with the brand new baby smell of possibility. A blank slate, ready to write whatever story they desire on in this world.. but are they really? We know that babies are born with predispostions, some of them are anxious and startle easy while some of them seem to go with the flow. But recent research is starting to look at the DNA of individuals who have had parents who have suffered trauma and it is looking as if we may have inherited certain gene expressions from those who go before us. We may be less of a blank slate than we think and we may have inherited more tendencies from our ancestors than we realize.


Christians know this already. Our story is one where we have inherited sin from our first parents. Perhaps even the DNA of Adam and Eve was modified in such an unalterable way that we carry a broken code around with us that didn't exist in the Garden of Eden. And that brings us to Jesus' command that in order to see the Kingdom of God we must be Born again. This concept of being born again is a complex one, far too complex to completely explore in this 5 minute writing time. But the more we learn scientifically, the more my own spiritual convictions are validated. Something radically changed us in the Garden of Eden, body, spirit and mind. And the reality is that we can undo that through Christ. It's a mystical transformation that even if it doesn't appear to happen, we are freed from being locked into the consequences of our broken fallen nature. We are freed to start over, to transform, to experience Metanoia.


One of the tasks I often explore with clients in counseling is looking at generational patterns and how they shape us, what beliefs we have automatically agreed with regarding who we are, who others are and our roles, breaking agreements with unhealthy beliefs and forming new thoughts and new behaviors and forming a new legacy for future generations. At it's very best it is soul work that goes hand in hand with God's work. It is learning to break free from the stuff we are born with that hurts us as well as the stuff that happens along the way. It is also embracing the gifts and strengths and our "made in the image of God" self, that can shine and transform like a diamond in the rough, for it is those things, our gifts and talents and our strengths that we are also born with and those are the things I believe God longs to reveal in us.


This blog post was part of the Five minute Friday link up, a community of writers who write on a prompt for 5 minutes. We'd love to have you join




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5 Comments


paula
May 29, 2020

I am so thankful for the rebirth I have had in Christ!

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paula
May 29, 2020

I am so thankful that for the rebirth I have had in Christ!

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Annette V
Annette V
May 29, 2020

Looking at family patterns explains a lot when you look at many of the things we do. It's surprising in a way the first time you realize it.

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Joanne Viola
Joanne Viola
May 29, 2020

This >> "At it's very best it is soul work that goes hand in hand with God's work." I am so very grateful for the way God is constantly at work to transform my life. We are works in progress. Always.

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tempusfugit02
tempusfugit02
May 29, 2020

I don’t know the generations,

I don’t care about my past,

we are now at battle stations

and are fighting to the last.

I don’t care about the old ways,

they are dead and gone to me,

sing it out, the lethal praise

that shall not see victory,

but, behold, this thing is new,

this futile fight unto the death,

and, my friend, I’ll see it through

unto my last choking breath;

then with final strength I feel

my teeth shall rend the victor’s heel.

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