Remember the classic song Who are You? by The Who? Its a question many of us stare down on a regular basis. We struggle with how we see ourselves, how others see us, and even with how God sees us. Our world is of absolutely no help in this matter. Basically everything we do seems to have a massive effect on our identity. Successful at work? Then you are a success. Get fired or have a bad season? Then you are written off as a failure. The way we dress, every action we take, and even the actions of those around us (employees, family, co-workers, friends, etc.) seem to move the pendulum of our identity.
I don’t know about you, but every movement of that identity pendulum really stresses me out. I’ve spent so much of my life worried about how others see me, as well as plenty of time struggling with how I view myself. Its a stressful way to live. And here’s the thing: its not how we were created to live. Checkout these two verses:
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
Psalm 139:13-14
He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:11-13
Our identity is not something that is up to us or the world around us, it was decided upon by God when we were purposefully formed. You may not always like everything about yourself, wishing for less belly and more hair and a brain that functions at a significantly higher level (well, those are my wants at least!). Yet, you are who God made you to be. And that’s a wonderful thing, for you’ve been made to be a child of God. Think about that: YOU have been created and saved to be part of God’s family forever. God’s pendulum doesn’t change with your every action, but his love for you is steadfast.
Stop trying to earn a certain identity in this world, and instead fully embrace the amazing and irrevocable identity you have in Christ: Child of the Most High God.
