Identity

What is the first word you think of when you think of me?  Go ahead, say it out loud, even if it’s not complimentary.  What do you see when you look at me?  Do you see a 40 year old who is bigger than he should be, has less hair than he used to?  Maybe all you see is the skinny jeans J or the clothes that I wear.  Maybe you see a preacher or minister or pastor or whatever word you want to use. 

Do you know me for who I am, what I do, what I wear, how I act in stressful situations, or any mix of all of these things?  What do we talk about when we converse?  Is it the weather, or sports, or politics, or do we just sit around and gossip? What at am I really asking? What is my identity as far as you are concerned? 

Something I’ve come to discover in life is that we are not good evaluators of ourselves.  I see myself a certain way, but you don’t necessarily agree.  I see what I’m thinking, or how I’m feeling or what my motivation is when I do what I do, but all you see is what I did, whether good or bad.  My identity in your eyes is shaped not by my good intentions but by my actions. In the justice system they call it evidence.  The tangible evidence of who I am is there for the whole world to see.

It seems to me that we spend a lot of time trying to treat the outward evidence of who we are (this is why I got angry, that is the reason I don’t treat you right, I acted poorly because I was tired, etc.) instead of allowing the glory of how we were created establish our identity from the inside out.  What would your life look like if you allowed your Creator to shape your identity? You have a God given Identity that is just begging to come out and make an impact on this world.

Think about it, when was the last time you taught your lungs to breathe or instructed your heart to beat or gave your brain a step by step instruction of how to process thoughts and memories and turn them into words?  You are a glorious miracle of God and although we all pretty much breathe the same way and our hearts beat in similar patterns, we each  have a unique DNA that God put in us when we were formed in the womb.  Ps 139:13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

Every day the Spirit of God is at work shaping you into who God made you to be.  The question is are you allowing Him full access into your heart.  Jesus said that out of the heart the mouth speaks, He also said to clean the inside of the cup first. My God given identity continues to take shape when I allow Him to transform me from the inside out.  When I give full access to the Potter to have Him shape me, and form me, He gives me an Identity centered in Jesus Christ my Lord!

Isa 64:8 And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand. NLT  Identity is not just a hot topic, it is the essential core of Christianity – Redeemed – Forgiven – Blood Bought – In Christ (and that pretty much sums it up)

Lance