One of the greatest battles you will ever fight isn’t against temptation or suffering.
It’s the battle to live from your true identity instead of a version shaped by fear.
It’s not the curated version of yourself. It’s not the version that performs well, sounds spiritual, or looks put-together. But the real you. The one that God knit together in your moms womb.
Lately I’ve been in the bible reading the book of Hebrews and one verse stopped me:
“Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.”
— Hebrews 9:14
The word that hit me wasn’t blood or sacrifice… It was conscience.
It’s in our conscious mind that we recognize who we truly are. But to live a life of presence, transformation has to reach deeper…into the subconscious, where our identity has been quietly shaped over time.
When we set our eyes on Christ, He doesn’t just inform us; He forms us. And it’s in those subconscious places that our deepest fears, wounds, and limiting beliefs live, waiting to be healed.
That’s where the real work happens. The subconscious is where limiting beliefs hide. Where shame disguises itself as “conviction.” Where fear pretends to be “discernment.” Where we learn who we’re allowed to be.
Most people live in duality. Who they are and how they appear are two completely different people.
The distance between those two is what I call the gap.
As children, there is no gap. We’re present. Expressive. Unfiltered. Fully ourselves. But as life happens, we start collecting unworthiness, guilt, fear, anger, judgment. Slowly, the gap widens and authenticity fades.
Which makes Jesus’ words land very differently:
“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
— Matthew 18:3
You must become like a child again to close the gap and allow Christ to heal the deepest parts of your soul that carry your deepest wounds. Let God re-parent the parts of you that learned to run and hide.
Authenticity isn’t found by trying harder. It’s restored by surrendering deeper. The smaller the gap gets the more authentic you become.
Close the gap!
- Daniel Kelley
P.S - if this stirred something in you, pass it along to someone you care about.