What if Christians believed in their true identity?
“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” -Romans 8:12-17 ESV
“A spirit of adoption as sons.” Wow. [Side note: Ladies, you’re sons too. It isn’t misogynistic. If I’m a Bride of Christ then you can be Sons of God. We’re even, it’s all fair. Jesus is still amazing.] When you profess Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He makes His home in your Heart. Not only that, but you’re given a new Father. God the Father grafts you into His own family, His own Bloodline. And you better believe there’s some power in THAT bloodline!
I was saved in February of 2006 I was in grade 12. I went on my third mission trip to Honduras and one of the team members (and fellow classmates) had gone before and signed us up for a weekend spiritual retreat called Encuentro (Encounter). I was raised in an American Lutheran Church and now I’m spending a weekend in a Honduran Pentecostal Church retreat. It was a WILDLY different environment than I was used to. One thing I’ve come to experience is that God isn’t so concerned with our comfort as He is with our encounter with Him. Discomfort seems to have been a great precursor to a major move of God in my life. It was incredibly uncomfortable to be a white, English speaking, American teenager in a weekend event with thirty 10-12 year old Honduran boys at a Pentecostal retreat. It’s not that I hadn’t heard the Gospel before. It was the environment that I was in. It was one that caused me to really press into the God that I had read about in Sunday School.
I experienced the words of the Gospel and the reality of what Jesus had done for me at Calvary bypass my brain and cause my heart to explode. Evangelist Todd White says something along the lines of “the Word is not meant for your brain, it’s meant for your heart. The Word can take your heart places your brain can’t fit.” I understood the gospel as fact. Until that weekend I never understood it as Truth.
I tell you all of that back story to say that although I was saved in my senior year of high school I continued to live like an orphan. I was saved but my life didn’t reflect what the Gospel was all about; a new creation, a son, no longer a slave, an heir. I was a hypocrite by very definition. I said that Jesus had changed my life but I looked just like everyone else.
I gave Jesus a part of my life, not the whole. I kept my identity to myself, among other things. An interesting enigma about identity is that although it is yours, you never actually get to define your own identity. If you want the title of Doctor, someone with authority has to give you that title. When it comes to identity you only get to choose who or what has the power to define you. Either you allow God to tell you who you are and who He made you to be, or you allow the world, your circumstances, your boss, your parents, your friends, your illness, your job or title, your pocketbook or portfolio to define your identity.
In the 1933 cartoon Popeye the Sailor Man, the main character Popeye famously says “I yam what I yam an’ tha’s all I yam”. The truth is, “I yam...defined by the things I give authority to define me.” There are two simple options here, God defines me or the World defines me. Unless your identity is found in the Father, the one who created you and chose you before the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1:4*) you will NEVER find satisfaction. [*Just go ahead and read all of Eph 1]
What do I mean? I can explain it better from my experience.
I used to place a lot of authority in what people thought of me. (Allowing others to define me) I desired a position of authority in the places I was told I was doing well in. I was never satisfied with just being good at what I do, I wanted to be the best, the brightest, the boss! (For the record, those aren’t inherently bad) For example, I am a musician. I come from a music family, my uncle Paul is a famous sound engineer and producer. I’ve been playing music for almost 2 decades, mostly in church! I’ve lead worship for huge numbers of people. I’ve toured with bands, I’ve been signed. I’ve got all the creds. Naturally, I felt that I should obviously be THE worship leader. I would position myself with the right people, make sure to network with the right leaders...the decision makers. I would pull out all of my amazing credentials and then be absolutely crushed when someone else was chosen over me. I sought to have myself defined by the title of leader or pastor but when I didn’t receive that definition, I would angrily pack up my toys and leave; only to move on to another church, expect to get my way and then, here we go again, pack up and leave.
Im certain I hurt a lot of people in that nasty cycle of self destruction. Or perhaps they realized that I just didn’t know who I was. I allowed others to define me as “not good enough” despite what I thought were amazing qualifications.
Being in that place produces cynicism, pessimism, division and distraction and none of those are fruits of the Spirit.
Then God reminded me of who He says I am. He reminded me that He found me to be of such great value that He was willing to empty all the riches of Heaven to buy me out of the prison of sin so that I could enter His courts, live in His house, under His Name, and be in intimate relationship with Him.
He WANTS ME!
He Loves ME!
—Mind-Blown—
I am no longer concerned with position, status, title, or recognition. I am way more interested in pleasing the Father.
“Whatever you do, work at it wholeheartedly as though you were doing it for the Lord and not merely for people.” Colossians 3:23 (HCSB)
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