The Skin You Cannot Shed

In C.S. Lewis's The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, a selfish boy named Eustace Scrubb falls asleep on a dragon's treasure hoard, nursing greedy thoughts. When he wakes, he has become a dragon — scaly, isolated, and terrifying to everyone around him. His outer form has finally matched what was happening inside.

Desperate to be himself again, Eustace tries to fix the problem on his own. He scratches at his dragon skin and manages to peel off a layer, only to find another layer of scales underneath. He tears at it again. Another layer. No matter how deep he claws, he cannot reach the boy beneath.

Then Aslan comes. The great Lion tells Eustace to lie down, and with one stroke of His claw, He cuts deeper than Eustace ever could — right down to the tender, new skin underneath. It hurts terribly. But when it is over, Eustace is himself again.

Many of us spend years trying to scratch off the layers we have accumulated — the shame, the false selves, the identities the world has pressed onto us. We read the right books, adopt the right habits, rebrand ourselves on social media. But the work never quite reaches deep enough.

The gospel says your truest identity is not something you construct. It is something the Living God uncovers. He alone can cut past every layer of pretense and performance to reach the person He created you to be — and that work, though painful, sets you free.