Back in the day, Loretta Young had a TV sitcom.  On one of the shows, during a cocktail party, the question was asked “Who are you?”  Most of the people responded with their names.  Some answered with their occupations: doctor, plumber, accountant.  One woman answered “I am a child of God.”  Everything stopped.  All attention was on her.  In those days, it was acceptable to speak of your Christian faith wherever you were.   And, of course, her answer was profound.

A friend of mine just finished reading “Choosing Life.”  We worked together, so she had no idea what I had lived through.  The woman she knew was a confident professional woman.  I tried to reassure her that it wasn’t that bad.  Well, it was that bad.  What I was struggling to explain was that, even with all that was happening around me, I was not a “victim.”  This was stuff that happened to me.  It was not me.  It was not who I was.  It did affect who I became, but I never thought of myself as a victim.  And I was always planning my escape.

“Choosing Life” describes the process of my transformation.  When we accept Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for our sins, we become “new creatures.”  The old things are gone, and everything is new.  There are many benefits to being a child of God.  First, we are forgiven, past, present and future.  Then, of course, Jehovah God is our Father.  We become heirs of the Kingdom of God, joint heirs with Christ.  We are members of Christ’s Body here on Earth, but we are citizens of Heaven.  A complete list in in Neil Anderson’s book “Victory Over Darkness.”  And after all these years, I have yet to find a “down side” to my choice to be a Christian.