Week Twenty-Six - Don't Get So Hung Up

Often, we read statements and accept them without thinking of their meaning. For example, we looked at trust your heart several weeks ago. It sounds good, but it contradicts the Bible's truth. Another phrase we accept, but Jesus never commended, is You deserve to be happy. You won't find that in the Bible, either. We all prefer to feel happy, but happiness is not a Bible quality. The Bible gives us joy, which is considerably different and much deeper than any fleeting happiness. 

I read an interesting quote by Michael Marshall highlighting another of these well-intended statements: "You need to find your identity."

According to Psychology Today, finding one's identity involves discovering and developing one's potential, choosing one's life's purpose, and finding opportunities to exercise that potential and purpose. 

That sounds good, and doing those things is wise, but we miss a significant component of life if we only use what we do or accomplish to define our identity. What I do is not who I am. I am more than a writer, more than a Christian worker, more than my job description, aren't you?

When you go home at night, do you continue thinking of yourself in terms of your job? Do you carry on with the same motivation and attitude as at work? Or do you relax and return to being yourself- the self outside your job description?

Another definition of identity states that it is not static. It is a dynamic concept that changes throughout life, with time, and through your struggles. I'd agree. I'm not the same person I was in my teen years or even in my 30s. But I'm still me, with all my insecurities, fears, and personality traits. How about you?

So, that definition doesn't help much, either.

Here's the thing: we can search to find our identity, but we still struggle to define it because it differs for each of us. We have a variety of sides because we are complex creatures with moral qualities, spiritual needs, varying levels of intellect, and social strata. Yet we desire to understand ourselves, define who we are, why we are here, and where we are going.

It may be time for you to read the quote that prompted my thoughts. Michael Marshal writes, 

"Modern man is hung up on his identity. The Christian realizes that his true identity is a mystery known only to God and that any attempt at this stage on the road of discipleship to define himself is bound to be blasphemous and destructive of that mysterious work of God forming Christ in him by the power of the Holy Spirit. Certainly, the Christian does not define his identity by his actions; that is the very ultimate in anti-Christ, for it is in effort saying that I am my own creator."

Let's unpack that a bit.

We are a mystery known only to God. How true. We cannot discover our hearts. As Paul puts it in Romans, we try to do good but fail miserably. But God knows our hearts, and He is at work in our lives to bring us to Christlikeness. We step outside our authority and ability when we try to unravel this mystery or define ourselves through actions. We have been bought with a price. We no longer define ourselves by ourselves, but our identity is intrinsically bound in Christ. He becomes our identity. We belong to Him.

I don't know about you, but this takes loads of pressure off my life. I don't have to "become" anything or "be" anyone because I am already a child of God. No need to figure anything else out because I now live by faith in Christ, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 

So, let's not get so hung up on who we are that we overlook the beauty of who He is and what He is doing in us. Let's rest ourselves in the Bible's definition of identity and keep moving forward into Christlikeness.

Galatians 2:20 reads, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." That sounds like a healthy place to start.