Who are you?
This is a subject that has become so important to me. I remember in college going to a small seminar where we sat around a table and the man speaking started talking about identity and how important it was. At that time I didn't understand. "What do you mean?" I thought, scoffing. "How silly, I know who I am, how could anyone not?" I didn't understand the word identity and it's definition go so much deeper than "My name is Erin and I'm me." I'd never asked the question "Who IS me? What MAKES me who I am?" These are things I'd never contemplated.
When you say who you are you say many things. There are so many facets to our identities. Even when writing a bio or an introduction letter, as many of us have had to do before. We are a combination of so many things about us. Some things we hold more tightly to than others. Take Olympians for instance. Major olympians have been known to hold so tightly to their identification with their sport that if they suffer a debilitating injury and can never practice their sport again which they've committed their whole lives to, they lose all grasp on life and have no idea who they are or what their purpose in life is.
I had never considered this when I sat in that seat. Now, it becomes one of the most important things about my walk through life as a lover and follower of Jesus. Who are you? You could describe yourself by your family, title, status, height, looks, occupation, gender, ethnicity, background, degree, knowledge, hobbies, talents, ect... basically anything that distinguishes you from anyone else. We crave individuality just as much as we crave unity. We want to be special, set apart, different, known.
Brothers and sisters, this is what our heavenly father has made us!
Identity is important because if I hold too tightly to any one thing about myself, that thing can become all I see myself as. I risk CHEAPENING myself. For example: I'm not just a teacher. I'm not just a violinist. I'm not just a female or a white woman with a Scandinavian background or a swing dancer. If I held too tightly to any of these things and let them become bigger than REAL identity, they would overrun my life and I would be lost once it was taken away. My REAL identity is only found in Christ. He tells me who I am. He SHOWS me. I'm a daughter of the king. I am BELOVED. I am KNOWN. Those are things that won't change. No one can take them away from me. Those are name tags and badges I can wear throughout life that I will never have to take off or swap. It is WHO I AM. Not alone, but IN HIM. Which is where you find yourself. It is where your identity is found. With a strong and clear identity that cannot be shaken, I am free. I can have confidence in who I am because I know to whom I belong and what my purpose is.
Be careful of waving that one flag too high and proudly. Especially if it is something that is NOT true. Some of us wear name tags in our minds. They say things like "broken", "used", "unwanted", "awkward", "untalented", "failure", "lazy", "unworthy", "friendless", "never good enough", ect... Yeah, maybe one of those sticks out as something you've let in to your mind and stay far too long. None of these is a name God gave you. These are lies. Lies put in our minds by satan who wants to steal our joy. Beloved, don't let satan win. Acknowledge those things coming up in your brain and tell them to go. We can't do this by ourselves, but need Jesus Christ in our hearts because he gives us the holy spirit who lives in us and through his power we have the authority to tell those thoughts to leave.
Identity is important because if you know who you are in Christ and who HE made you to be, those thoughts have no place. They can't even enter. There isn't room! You KNOW who you are. You are priceless, valuable, born with a purpose, loved, sons and daughters of the king, wanted, invited, forgiven, made new, strong in him, confident in him, cherished, worth it, cared for. These things are the truth. They stamp out all lies before they even start. If wood on a fire is covered with oil, water can't put it out. In the same way, if you are covered with the identity God gives you, satan can't pour any lies on you that will stick. They just roll off. Jesus doesn't say that the hard times won't come or that the bad thoughts won't knock on our doors. He says he will COVER us with truth and his love and our identities in Him so they won't make any difference and have no power over us because we are covered by him.
What if we all let this truth sink over us and pour through us? Can you imagine? The gates of hell would shudder! People who know their identity? Who don't need to put others down to feel better? Who don't need affirmation because their worth is in Christ? Who have confidence in Christ and are completely whole? What if we weren't broken, not lacking anything, and made perfect? How much freedom we would feel!! How much love and healing would pour out! Make your identity something that you're aware of. Who do you say you are? Who does Christ say you are? Do you even believe what Christ says about you? This is worth contemplating.
I'll bounce back to the other kind of identity- the olympian phenomenon. It can happen with anyone. If I get so devoted to being proud that I'm a woman, that can be all I think I am. And that's great, but I am so much MORE. And I'm missing out if I don't see that! When I was younger I was the only one I knew who played violin and that became a source of identity for me. When you're the only one, it tends to. I loved that special thing about myself and when another girl appeared on the scene that played (and not only played, but COMPETED. NATIONALLY. AND WON.) I was displaced. It hit me hard and I didn't know who I was (in a small sense). That was a thing I said I was. Well, if I'm not the only one, and am no where as good as her, than what do I have to offer? Those were my thoughts.
In high school I was good at Spanish and didn't even realize I had made that part of my identity till I came to college and what was good in high school became the worst in the whole class in college. I had a bit of an identity crisis! If I'm not good at Spanish like I thought, than who am I? Should I change majors? Well no. God brought me through that and told me to persevere.
Again, with violin it happened in college. I had gotten over not being the best, but still, I was a violinist and one of the only ones and it was a part of "who I was". Honestly, it still is. That tends to happen with things that you start really really young. I got to orchestra which I'd never done before and discovered I couldn't sight read. I was the worst in the orchestra in that regard. I couldn't play with other violins. This was rough as well, but again, God humbled me, had me persevere, and I emerged with so much growth!
I learned throughout college, that each thing I would hold onto as being "who I am" would crumble and I'd be left with God. Which was pain I am SO grateful for. I learned that I'm not nothing without _________. I AM something! I am beloved and I am HIS. I don't have to BE anything to be loved! Why would I care when he's the one who loves me?! It's really silly if you think about it, but it's something so easy to do! We take our talents, occupations, or even being from a certain place and make that the most important thing about us. It's NOT! That's a foundation that's not solid when you could have something so much more solid, true, and freeing!
Beloved, if you knew who you were, you would love yourself, others, and God. You would be free, confident, and joyful.
If any of those things are missing from your life at all, you're missing part of your IDENTITY. You don't know WHO YOU ARE and you need to ask God about it.
Food for thought.
This is a subject that has become so important to me. I remember in college going to a small seminar where we sat around a table and the man speaking started talking about identity and how important it was. At that time I didn't understand. "What do you mean?" I thought, scoffing. "How silly, I know who I am, how could anyone not?" I didn't understand the word identity and it's definition go so much deeper than "My name is Erin and I'm me." I'd never asked the question "Who IS me? What MAKES me who I am?" These are things I'd never contemplated.
When you say who you are you say many things. There are so many facets to our identities. Even when writing a bio or an introduction letter, as many of us have had to do before. We are a combination of so many things about us. Some things we hold more tightly to than others. Take Olympians for instance. Major olympians have been known to hold so tightly to their identification with their sport that if they suffer a debilitating injury and can never practice their sport again which they've committed their whole lives to, they lose all grasp on life and have no idea who they are or what their purpose in life is.
I had never considered this when I sat in that seat. Now, it becomes one of the most important things about my walk through life as a lover and follower of Jesus. Who are you? You could describe yourself by your family, title, status, height, looks, occupation, gender, ethnicity, background, degree, knowledge, hobbies, talents, ect... basically anything that distinguishes you from anyone else. We crave individuality just as much as we crave unity. We want to be special, set apart, different, known.
Brothers and sisters, this is what our heavenly father has made us!
Identity is important because if I hold too tightly to any one thing about myself, that thing can become all I see myself as. I risk CHEAPENING myself. For example: I'm not just a teacher. I'm not just a violinist. I'm not just a female or a white woman with a Scandinavian background or a swing dancer. If I held too tightly to any of these things and let them become bigger than REAL identity, they would overrun my life and I would be lost once it was taken away. My REAL identity is only found in Christ. He tells me who I am. He SHOWS me. I'm a daughter of the king. I am BELOVED. I am KNOWN. Those are things that won't change. No one can take them away from me. Those are name tags and badges I can wear throughout life that I will never have to take off or swap. It is WHO I AM. Not alone, but IN HIM. Which is where you find yourself. It is where your identity is found. With a strong and clear identity that cannot be shaken, I am free. I can have confidence in who I am because I know to whom I belong and what my purpose is.
Be careful of waving that one flag too high and proudly. Especially if it is something that is NOT true. Some of us wear name tags in our minds. They say things like "broken", "used", "unwanted", "awkward", "untalented", "failure", "lazy", "unworthy", "friendless", "never good enough", ect... Yeah, maybe one of those sticks out as something you've let in to your mind and stay far too long. None of these is a name God gave you. These are lies. Lies put in our minds by satan who wants to steal our joy. Beloved, don't let satan win. Acknowledge those things coming up in your brain and tell them to go. We can't do this by ourselves, but need Jesus Christ in our hearts because he gives us the holy spirit who lives in us and through his power we have the authority to tell those thoughts to leave.
Identity is important because if you know who you are in Christ and who HE made you to be, those thoughts have no place. They can't even enter. There isn't room! You KNOW who you are. You are priceless, valuable, born with a purpose, loved, sons and daughters of the king, wanted, invited, forgiven, made new, strong in him, confident in him, cherished, worth it, cared for. These things are the truth. They stamp out all lies before they even start. If wood on a fire is covered with oil, water can't put it out. In the same way, if you are covered with the identity God gives you, satan can't pour any lies on you that will stick. They just roll off. Jesus doesn't say that the hard times won't come or that the bad thoughts won't knock on our doors. He says he will COVER us with truth and his love and our identities in Him so they won't make any difference and have no power over us because we are covered by him.
What if we all let this truth sink over us and pour through us? Can you imagine? The gates of hell would shudder! People who know their identity? Who don't need to put others down to feel better? Who don't need affirmation because their worth is in Christ? Who have confidence in Christ and are completely whole? What if we weren't broken, not lacking anything, and made perfect? How much freedom we would feel!! How much love and healing would pour out! Make your identity something that you're aware of. Who do you say you are? Who does Christ say you are? Do you even believe what Christ says about you? This is worth contemplating.
I'll bounce back to the other kind of identity- the olympian phenomenon. It can happen with anyone. If I get so devoted to being proud that I'm a woman, that can be all I think I am. And that's great, but I am so much MORE. And I'm missing out if I don't see that! When I was younger I was the only one I knew who played violin and that became a source of identity for me. When you're the only one, it tends to. I loved that special thing about myself and when another girl appeared on the scene that played (and not only played, but COMPETED. NATIONALLY. AND WON.) I was displaced. It hit me hard and I didn't know who I was (in a small sense). That was a thing I said I was. Well, if I'm not the only one, and am no where as good as her, than what do I have to offer? Those were my thoughts.
In high school I was good at Spanish and didn't even realize I had made that part of my identity till I came to college and what was good in high school became the worst in the whole class in college. I had a bit of an identity crisis! If I'm not good at Spanish like I thought, than who am I? Should I change majors? Well no. God brought me through that and told me to persevere.
Again, with violin it happened in college. I had gotten over not being the best, but still, I was a violinist and one of the only ones and it was a part of "who I was". Honestly, it still is. That tends to happen with things that you start really really young. I got to orchestra which I'd never done before and discovered I couldn't sight read. I was the worst in the orchestra in that regard. I couldn't play with other violins. This was rough as well, but again, God humbled me, had me persevere, and I emerged with so much growth!
I learned throughout college, that each thing I would hold onto as being "who I am" would crumble and I'd be left with God. Which was pain I am SO grateful for. I learned that I'm not nothing without _________. I AM something! I am beloved and I am HIS. I don't have to BE anything to be loved! Why would I care when he's the one who loves me?! It's really silly if you think about it, but it's something so easy to do! We take our talents, occupations, or even being from a certain place and make that the most important thing about us. It's NOT! That's a foundation that's not solid when you could have something so much more solid, true, and freeing!
Beloved, if you knew who you were, you would love yourself, others, and God. You would be free, confident, and joyful.
If any of those things are missing from your life at all, you're missing part of your IDENTITY. You don't know WHO YOU ARE and you need to ask God about it.
Food for thought.