Identity...

I have been thinking of the topic - Identity... Partly due to the fact that the Lust Free Living materials that I have been using to lead a group. The first chapter is titled 'Identity...'

Though it may be difficult to understand/discern/conclude; our identity comes from ourselves...what we do...who we are with...where we go (Earthly Identity) – and from God.

Our identity is a combination of our Earthly Identity and our God given Identity; though they can conflict.

When our Earthly Identity conflicts with our God given Identity, we struggle with who we are and who we are to become. The two Identities are like oil and water…they are unable to mix, though they exist side by side.

When our Earthly Identity is in line with our God given Identity, they mold into one…
So, what can we do to align the two…to make our Identity singular.

Matthew 16:25 - For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

This scripture can be interpreted in many ways, but stick with me for a moment as I express a certain view.

Let’s look at this in the capacity of Identity. Rewording the scripture - For whoever wants to save his Earthly Identity will lose it, but whoever loses his Earthly Identity for me will find his God given Identity.

We need to look closely at whom we want to be, and who God wants us to be… We need to look at what we do, who we are with, where we go, and how we live – does it line up with scripture? If not, we are trying to save our Earthly Identity.

It does not mean that our earthly relationships, which may well give us some sense of identity, become unimportant.

David Hyman, of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship in Australia, says:
Our identity as Christians is in Christ. If it is not it must be in something else—our nationality, our family, our friends, our possessions, our job. When all these are removed we have nothing, unless we have our identity founded and fixed in Jesus.

So a choice has to be made. Are we willing to commit our life and future to Him who alone knows fully all that we are and all that we could become?

He desires to give us all that He has planned, that identity in which alone we can find complete fulfillment. He suffered on Calvary to make it possible.

The missionary statesman, Dr E. Stanley Jones said, "One does not know who he is until he knows whose he is."

Saying all of that, the question may still remain – “Who determines our Identity?”
“What is our Identity?”

Who determines our identity? Ultimately – WE DO… WE chose to have a fulfilling life/Identity.

To whom do we belong? Do we belong to a person or our self or do we belong to God? If we belong to our self, we will never find that gelled Identity. We will struggle for purpose, desire, pride, and discontentment.

If we belong to God, we can have purpose, humility, contentment.

Okay, back to who we are. We are created in God’s likeness

According to Scripture, humans are not only the highest of God's acts of creation, they are created in the "likeness" or "image" of God.

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness'...So God created man in his own image...male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:26, 27).

The rest of the Bible gives us many clues as to what this "likeness to God" is meant to imply.

More to come??? Not sure...