Our culture is very interested in the journey of discovering individual identity. Personality tests, dream assessments, and even online spiritual quizzes are available everywhere you look. It seems like everyone is searching for something to tell them who they are, where they belong, and the quickest way to get there.
The Bible says that all men and women are created in God’s image. Humankind was created to reflect some of God’s divine characteristics. You can look for your identity anywhere, but followers of Jesus are called to find their identity in Him.
The world encourages you to look within to find your identity. We can be tempted to find our identity in jobs, places, titles, reputation, relationships, and various other “things.” While at any given point, all of these things can seem rock solid; the truth is they are all temporary. Any of them could change in an instant. If you base your identity on things like success, wealth, power, or physical appearance, you are setting yourself up for great disappointment. No one is more familiar with the consequences of unmet expectations than me!
We all know that jobs can be taken, our appearances change, and our reputation can come into question without any real merit when we least expect it. All it takes is one misunderstanding directed at us, and the reputation we worked so hard to identify with is quickly destroyed. People, at some point in our lives, will most certainly let us down.
If I really search, it wouldn’t be long before I found that I’ve been guilty of this myself. I have found my identity in jobs and even other people. I’ve asked myself the question, “Who am I really if I don’t have this” or “Who am I if I’m not associated with this person.”
The most damaging thing my identity has been wrapped up in is my appearance. I battled an eating disorder in high school, and it almost consumed me. It wasn’t until I was in my 30s that someone had an honest conversation with me about my identity and what it meant to find it in the wrong people or things.
Note: surround yourself with people that love you enough to be honest with you and don’t only tell you what they think you want to hear.
The truth is, my identity is in a faithful, reliable, unchanging God who loves me so much that He sent his only son to die on a cross for me. He has never and will never let me down. It is so important as you define your identity that God not be just a part of who you are. First, we have to understand who He is, what He says about Himself, and what He says about us. Good news! There IS a manual for that 🙂
I have these beautiful reminders posted all around my house in various places to acknowledge every day who God says I am and what He thinks about me. I see them as I’m getting ready in the morning, when I put clothes away in my closet, and when I’m in the kitchen cooking, etc.
A few of those reminders are:
You are LOVED- 1 John 3:1, Zepheniah 3:17
In Christ, you are loved. You were created with a purpose. God lovingly designed every part of you. Knowing you so well that He knows the count of every hair on your head (that is or has been). Can you imagine the love involved with that kind of detail?
You are CHOSEN- 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:9
In Christ, you are not only loved but chosen. God sent His own Son to earth to die in your place.
He didn’t choose us because of our title at work, how thin and fit we were, or the amount of money in our bank account.
You are no mistake. You are chosen and wanted. God doesn’t NEED any of us to carry out His plan but He chooses to use us daily and that is extraordinary.
You are FORGIVEN- Colossians 3:13, 2 Corinthians 5:17
Because Jesus, who was without sin, died the death WE should have on the cross, you can be forgiven of sin. What you’ve done wrong is not counted against you, and all that Christ did right is counted for you. This forgiveness allows you to be considered a child of God.
If you have accepted what Jesus did for you, you are completely forgiven in God’s eyes. That is often so hard to accept, but it is the truth. It seems simple enough, but we want to make things so hard sometimes.
My hope and prayer is that you know you are forgiven, loved, and chosen by a gracious and loving Father who would rather die an awful death than spend a day in eternity without you.
Lynn Fulwider
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#lynnfulwiderblogs
