By what story do you construct your life?

By what story do you construct your life? What story dominates your life? These were questions raised and discussed at yet another Mark Yarhouse break-out session at the most recent CAPS conference. He was discussing issues around helping same sex attracted individuals put their inner struggles into a more carefully considered story (rather than knee-jerk stories posed by either popular or church culture).

I think these are excellent questions for each and everyone to consider. What stories, what narratives shape your sense of self? Were you the impulsive kid who always got in trouble? Were you the gifted one who always got the praise? How do they continue to shape your sense of self today? 

These stories are formed by (a) events that happen to us, (b) familial and cultural messages and interpretations about self, other, world, etc., and (c) our perceptions of (a) and (b) and our perceptions of self. But as we mature, we are called by God to evaluate our constructed stories in light of His truth. This is a lifelong process of repeating the truth, the history, and the future (just as Moses does in Deuteronomy) of our narrative in Christ.

So, by what story do you construct your life? What does that story cause you to distort about yourself? (Are you all bad?) About others? (Are others always dangerous? Always letting you down?) About God (Is He standoffish? Is He capricious?). How would the Gospel’s counter-cultural message (counter to both the established church and the world) create new story lines for you that would change your entire view of self, other, and the world? What if you practiced repeating and living into those threads of the story?