His name was Manasseh.

His dad was one of the greatest kings his nation had ever seen, his royal heritage included some of the greatest names of the faith, and he carried a promise straight from the mouth of God that his family would rule forever if he would simply place no other god before the God of Israel. He was only twelve when he began to reign.

He spent his fifty-five years as king destroying his nation with wickedness. He rebuilt altars to false gods that his dad had torn down, made new altars to the false god Baal, and worshiped the stars as gods. He went into the temple that had been created specifically to worship God and to ask forgiveness for the nation’s sins and built new altars to false gods there. He sacrificed his son by fire, got involved with dark magic, and seduced his subjects into becoming more evil than any nation around them. He brought his nation into bondage as punishment for his evil acts, destroying many people’s lives. Manasseh’s story ends with this statement, “Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.”

That was his legacy.

His name was Amon, surviving heir to Manasseh’s legacy. He was given a choice when he began to reign at the age of twenty-two years old: follow his dad’s example of extreme wickedness and destruction or turn to God for the revival of his nation. His entire reign was diminished to two years when he chose to walk, “in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them: And he forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD. While still a very young man in his early twenties, his servants plotted against him and murdered Amon. He chose to identify with the evil his father taught and his choice cost him decades of his life.

His name was Josiah, heir to Amon and grandson to the most wicked Manasseh. He had every opportunity to continue his dad’s and granddad’s legacy of evil and destruction. He was only eight when his dad was assassinated by people Josiah knew and at eight he began to reign as king over his nation. He had every opportunity to be bitter against losing his dad at such a young age, but we see that at the age of eighteen he made a very significant choice: Josiah chose to be different. He determined that he would not become the same person his family members had been. He chose a different legacy — he chose a different identity.

He rebuilt the faith of his people and led them in a nation wide revival. He renewed the temple where his people met with God and did what he could to undo the evil his father and grandfather had established.

You are not defined by your family unless you choose to be. You are not defined by your past unless you choose to be. You are only defined by your choice of action. Proverbs 20:11 tells us, “Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.” It is only the choices we make today that will define who we become. Your actions and choices will clearly reveal who you are choosing to be.

Don’t lose hope if your family is violent or absent or broken or cruel. Don’t lose hope if you have some giant sins in your past. God tells us in Hebrews, “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” If God is willing to forget who you were yesterday in favor of you who choose to be today, then why shouldn’t you let go of those burdens and guilt? Why can’t you let go of the bitterness and anger and sadness?

Don’t anything keep you from making the choice to identify today, and every day from here forward, as a holy, serving, faithful child of God. Age doesn’t matter: Josiah was the youngest to begin reigning of his immediate family, yet he chose to be the godliest as well. Josiah’s youth did not define him: his ability to handle hard and holy things in a manner that God loved mattered. You are not too young to make life-altering, wonderful choices towards becoming a new and better version of yourself. 

Define who you are today by choosing right. What’s holding you back today from choosing to be the best version of yourself as a child of God that you could be? Is it your past? Is it your family? Is it your pain or bitterness? It’s time. It’s time RIGHT NOW to let it go. No more excuses: just choose your identity as a Christian. Read that Bible. Pray to your Father. Live holy. Serve. Love. Choose who you are.

Love, Meghan