Growing up as the only girl between two boys, the only hand me downs I knew were the ones occasionally swapped with friends. Today there are prom dress swap shops, clothes swaps among friends and churches, and certainly hand me down baby clothes are the best deal of all.
Culturally speaking, hand me downs are a fashion label fully accepted and proudly worn. We take something from someone else and, with little re-do, make it our own.
Sometimes we are wearing one hand me down that doesn't fit the bill so well. Hand me down faith, though alive and well, simply doesn't fit its new owner...you.
If your faith journey is simply a redo of your parents or someone else, it is lifeless at best and quite possibly harmful to your health.
Why? Because a one-on-one with God depends on you being your fully present self. You may look like your birth parents but you are spiritually designed only in the image of God. The problem with parent faith is that it may or may not have pointed or be pointing you in the right direction. God didn't make you to reflect your parents--He made you to reflect Himself. The value of their hand me down love and faith and care was to give you a taste of God, not a garment to wear.
Consider the depth of your love for God and your daily pursuit to find out who He is. Does your pursuit have its own stamp on it? Are you chasing Him with your own time and your own personality?
Then your garment of faith is, culturally speaking, the best label of all.
