Skip to main content

Identity

 Drawing close to a new year, it is easy to look back on the past 12 months.  What has happened, where we have been, what we have let define us.  What our identity has become.

When thinking about our identity, what things are we using to define what we are? 

Are we thinking of actions or events?  That promotion we were so excited for.  That trauma that feels like it has defined every day since.  The mistake we made that we can't seem to run from.

Is it other people we are letting define us?  Finding identity in the person who chose to love us this year.  Finding identity in the one that did not choose to love us.  The praise or the rejection we received that feels like it is making us who we are.

Maybe it's from our own thoughts?  Confidence, false or legitimate.  Anxiety.  Whatever word we are trying to project to the surface.

A lot of times, it's a title we might think of, whether good or bad.  Single. Spouse. Boss. Parent. Student. 

We hear about putting our identity in Christ, so what does this look like?

First, let's look at what happens when we attempt to claim the things above as our identity.  If it's been a particularly hard year, words like "grief", "anxiety", "complacency", or "anger" may come to the surface when thinking about how we view ourselves.  If this is what we are holding onto, this grief and fear can become so rooted in us that it feels so hard to let go and change the narrative of who we want to be.  If the words we are choosing are positive, yet based on wordly things, what happens when the season changes?  We lose the job, the relationship ends, we no longer feel needed.  If we are using this success as our identity, then who are we once it ends?  Is our identity lost?

Hebrews 13:8 says that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever".  He does not change with the seasons, instead He walks through them with us.

The world does not always choose to love us, so finding our identity in others can be risky.  However, part of 1 John 4:16 claims that "God IS love".  This is not a fleeting love that can be taken away, this is choosing to find identity with the CREATOR of love.

When I'm looking at my identity in others or in myself, I can easily lose hope for becoming who I want to be or remaining joyful throughout what life throws at me.  In the Bible, Paul does not only discuss Jesus bringing hope, but he uses hope as a title for Jesus- Christ Jesus our Hope (1 Timothy 1:1).  

Everything we are missing in a wordly identity is found in Him.

Merriam-Webster defines "Identity" as "the distinguishing character or personality of an individual".

Notice that this does not mention how others view you, what you've been through, or what season of life you are in.  I like the word character because it has so much more depth that the things we might focus on.

So how do we make Christ our character and personality?

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-45)

Character rooted in Christ is loving those around us.  God loves us when we show Him love.  However, God also loves us when we run away, when we hurt Him, when we try to hide.  His love remains constant.

Loving those around us will sometimes bring the most joyous moments.  Sometimes it will bring the most painful.  Even so, if I can look back on my past year and know that through good or bad I tried to act with love, that's a year I want to have.  Luckily, if that isn't what our past year looks like, God is also the God of grace.  Choosing Him as our identity is truly the most solid, steadfast choice we can make.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ignored Instructions

My favorite way to feel close to God has always been by writing down things I am learning about Him as well as areas I am growing or struggling.  I haven't written in right at a year, which is an honest insight to where my faith has been over the last year.   To be honest, I have spent the better part of last year dealing with some anger towards God.  There were so many nights of begging God to answer me and not understanding why it felt like He was not helping me out in the slightest.  I prayed for Him to show me how to handle situations and for clarity on the direction that my life was going.  I wanted an audible "yes this is correct", but instead I misunderstood His "no" and confused it for silence. Truthfully looking back at myself this time last year, the best example I can give is someone angrily throwing tools across the room because they can't figure out how to build the piece of furniture... with the instructions sitting unread and ignored next to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Feeling Safe

I usually choose to write when life feels the hardest in order to process my own feelings and hope that it can help even one person turn to Jesus with their own struggles, and this post is no different. Life has so many waves of ups and downs, and the downs can feel suffocating. Letting go of people in our lives can be one of the deepest downs we face.  Goodbyes are a part of life for so many different reasons, but they can be so hard.  Some are needed, some are unexpected, some are confusing- but typically they are all hard.  No matter the situation, a loss threatens our sense of safety, our sense of identity, sometimes our self worth, and can have so many affects on our day to day lives, no matter the size of the loss. Sometimes through difficulties, God can seem really far away.  Not understanding why things are happening and feeling alone can lead to feeling like God isn't listening or doesn't care.  It feels like an extra betrayal on top of the pain life is...
1 comment
Read more

Unexpected Path

 Life is constant cycle of highs and lows.  Some days it's easy to feel on top of the world, like everything is going perfectly as planned- that sense of thriving.  Other days are hard.  They can include gut wrenching pain, the numb feeling of loneliness, or the anxiously waiting on answers that feel like they may never come. I think a lot of the pain in life comes from things not going as planned.  Whether it is a tragic unexpected loss or the dull feeling of being stuck in a season of waiting, these disruptions to what we are wanting and searching for can cause the most doubt. Jeremiah 29:11 is a verse I reference a lot-" For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."   While this verse usually brings comfort, it honestly makes me angry sometimes.  It's easy to read it and think to myself "So if You have a plan and you say it's good, why is this happening ...
Post a Comment
Read more