You Are Not What Was Done to You — Purity 1951
– By M.T. Clark — April 29, 2026 – Purity 1951 Audio Podcast
Purity 1951 on YouTube:
Today’s photo of dead tree limbs hovering over a westward leading asphalt pathway to spring comes to us from yours truly. I captured this simple scene of beauty this past Sunday afternoon as I prepared to leave my countryside home, and its country roads, behind for good.
Well, it’s Thursday, and I share this pathway photo as a visual reminder and encouragement to get on, or to stay on, the path of Christian discipleship — where you may not always know exactly where you are going, but where you can rest knowing that God is with you. My heart is full this week and I am looking forward to experiencing my first full weekend in our new home. TammyLyn has officially moved into Glens Falls and has been working all week to make our house a home, and I can’t wait to see what she has done with the place tomorrow night.
The move to Glens Falls marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of another in our lives. Oddly enough, as I was leaving Easton Sunday afternoon, Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” came to mind and manifested on my iPhone — and I pulled TammyLyn into the music and we danced around a little bit, celebrating our time there and bidding that place a fond, joyful farewell. Easton was where we became a couple, but we are both looking forward to growing closer together in our new beginning. In the spirit of looking ahead, I have also signed up for some AI classes, because I want to use every tool the Lord puts in my hands — digital or otherwise — to reach people with the Good News. With various AI tools at my disposal, I have been inspired to be more independent with the messages I share. I believe that I have something to say for God’s kingdom, and I am going to do everything I can to make sure people know about the freedom they can have in Christ.
After yesterday’s message, that was rooted in our victory in Christ, I’ve decided to make it the first of a new series called “Who You Are in Christ.” Yesterday we settled something foundational: you are not what you did.
But today I want to address a different kind of prison. The heaviest weight some people carry isn’t the guilt over what they did — it’s the grief over what was done to them.
Abuse. Abandonment. Betrayal. Neglect. Somebody — maybe somebody who was supposed to love or protect you — didn’t. And the wound they left didn’t just hurt. It caused a lingering damage to the way you think about yourself and the way you look at life.
But Jesus wants to heal you of what has been broken, and God wants you to know:
You are not what was done to you.
Romans 8:28 says that God is moving all things together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. All things — including the things you can barely say out loud. It doesn’t say God approved of everything that happened to you. It doesn’t minimize the damage or pretend the pain wasn’t real. What it says is this: God is a Master Redeemer, and He is working all things — the beautiful things and the broken things — for good. That’s not a bumper sticker. That’s a holy declaration of war against the narrative the enemy has been running in your head.
You are not the story someone else wrote about you. You are the story God is rewriting — right now, one day at a time.
Here’s what I’ve learned from years of sitting with people in recovery: the identity wound from what was done to us can run deeper than the guilt from what we did. Why? Because guilt, as awful as it is, at least puts us in the driver’s seat. We made a choice. We can own it, repent of it, and move forward. But when someone else is the author of our pain, we can feel like powerless victims, defined by somebody else’s sin.
That’s where the presence of God in your life can change everything. When you learn to genuinely live in God’s presence, you stop being defined by those voices from your past and start being shaped by the Voice that called creation into existence.
That Voice says you are: Beloved. Chosen. Redeemed.
In Christ, your identity is not “Victim” — your identity is “Redeemed.” You are not defined by the one who hurt you. You are defined by the One who made you and who wants to take your pain away.
Freedom — real freedom — isn’t just freedom from what you did. It’s freedom from what was done to you. Romans 8:1 is clear: There is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. That means all those condemning thoughts — all those sad, mean, depressing, and punishing thoughts we have about ourselves — aren’t true about us anymore.
God has forgiven you and wants to heal you of all those bad things you think about yourself. Through your faith in Jesus, He has made you new. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, you can rise with Him into your new life and live in the healing and victory that come from knowing you are not defined by what you have done, or by what others have done to you.
The healing we receive from Christ is continuous and progressive — it leads us from here to eternity. Progress over perfection means you don’t have to have this all figured out today. Every step away from that old identity and toward who God says you are is a good step. Every single one.
The path ahead may not always be easy, but as long as you are walking in God’s presence, you are moving toward freedom.
You are not what was done to you.
Take that truth to heart, receive the Lord’s healing in your body, soul, and spirit, and move forward free of the past’s guilt and shame. God makes all things new and moves all things together for good — so let Him help you experience the goodness of your new life in Christ.
And wherever you go, keep on walking and talking with God.
— M.T.
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“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”
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