Who am I?

This age-old question at the heart of human existence has never been simple, and yet, it is perhaps the simplest of all. The problem is not that we don’t have an answer. The problem lies in having the faith to accept it and the strength to stand by it.

Even amidst the confusion of adolescence for those fortunate enough to have been blessed with a childhood where they experienced love and acceptance, the innocence of that beginning becomes a place we strive to find again. For the many whose beginnings were less than ideal, the absence of remembered peace and security can create a void that informs and motivates a journey toward locating something that may seem to be always just out of reach.

No matter the type of childhood you experienced, peace, love, and acceptance are universal desires of the human heart. We weren’t created to be solitary creatures. We were created for community and togetherness. To these ends we strive. The results of our striving often lead us places we later wished we hadn’t gone, or they lead us to places of false security or a dark version of acceptance that can prove exceedingly destructive. Think gangs, cults, and splinter groups united by ideology.

Discovering who we are is a key piece of life’s puzzle. Who we are determines where and with whom we will fit. Around whom we will experience comfort. The kind of companions that will bring that elusive sense of belonging and fulfillment.

But, we don’t always self-diagnose properly which leads to negative choices. (See above.) Often, we belittle ourselves, believing less than the truth. Short changing our potential. Settling for what life seems willing to offer.

Part of the reason we may do this stems from trying to be self-sufficient. We weren’t meant to do everything on our own, yet we try to be everything to everyone – including ourselves.

When I returned to the understanding that I couldn’t be in charge of myself because God was in control, I began to see that my identity was bound up in His love for me. I was nothing without Him and everything with Him.

But the result of this realization was the need to surrender – to submit to His power, His will, His authority. This act of release is difficult, made more so by the American ideal of pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps, so to speak. The American model of self-sufficiency pushes hard against God’s model of relinquishing control to His greater wisdom and plan.

For me, personally, it has led to seasons of submission and rebellion. But, as I’ve come to trust Him more, I’m learning to lay back in his arms and allow His peace and joy to fill the spaces formerly occupied by fear and doubt. I’ve found it is an entirely new way to live and far outstrips the former way which was fraught with anxiety, fear, and constant pushes for more. More of what, I couldn’t always say.

So, I invite you into your identity – the one each person on earth was born into. You are first and foremost an image bearer of the Almighty God. What you choose to do with that identity is up to you. God will not force you to choose Him or to walk His path. As much as He desires to know you, He won’t enter your heart without your invitation.

As human beings, our primary purpose on earth is to choose. The forces of darkness try very hard to obscure the clarity of our choices – to make it seem as if there are a plethora of choices available. But when it comes down to it, there are only two.

We can choose to accept Jesus as our Savior and King,

or

We choose the opposite – a life of darkness, shadows, and ultimately, no hope for a permanent future.

Those who are not with God are opposed to Him. There is no in between. But belief in God’s existence isn’t enough. Making an active choice, proclaiming faith in Jesus and formally accepting His sovereignty, then seeking a personal relationship with Him is required. We can’t sneak in the back door. Not when an all-knowing, ever-present, holy ruler oversees eternity.

I pray you will choose the only one with the power to defeat death and rise to rule the Heavens and the Earth beside His Father. The one who, for the future joy of having humankind rule at His side, endured a cruel death in a vastly inferior human body, then waged war with the forces of evil themselves and won, thereby securing an eternal future for those who choose to acknowledge and follow Him.

Let your identity be forever wrapped in Christ Jesus as a future heir of all things and experience the peace that surpasses understanding and the never ending love and presence of the Creator.