There is More | Identity

When you think of your identity, what comes to mind?

You might think of activities you are a part of. Maybe you think of yourself as sporty, artistic or musical. Maybe you identify yourself based on interests. You might say “I am a reader, I am an animal-lover or I am a cook.”

Maybe you identify yourself by your friend group or your lack of one. Or maybe by your family. “I am a Smith, or a Jones, or a Conway.”

There are many ways we can choose to identify ourselves, but there is one way that trumps any other—that is our identity given to us by God.

There are two things I want to touch on about the identity God gives us.

First, every single person on this Earth was hand-crafted by the most talented artist to ever be. He knit each of us together in our mothers’ wombs, and He planned every intricacy of our being—every hair color, every mannerism and every way of thinking.

When God says you are something, that is what you are. He made you, so He would know it.

For example, think of David in the Bible. When David was young, he was considered almost nothing. He was the youngest of his father’s sons. He was a shepherd instead of a warrior. But from the beginning, God said David was brave. God made him to slay giants. God said David was a king, even though he was only a lowly shepherd boy.

No one thought of David as being a brave king when he was young. David probably couldn’t even see it in himself. But God knew exactly how He made David, and He knows exactly how He made you. And everything God makes is good.

No matter what you think about yourself, no matter what other people think about you, no matter what changes about your interests or skills or the activities you invest time in, God will always see you as His unique, beautiful creation. What He thinks about you stands the test of time.

The identity he created for you is more true than any other way you could identify yourself because He made you.  

God also considers us His children when we believe we are made right with God by the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.

In 2 Corinthians 5:21, the Bible says “God made the only one who did not know sin [Jesus] to become sin for us, so that we who did not know righteousness [unhindered relationship with God] might become the righteousness of God through our union with him.”

God has already done everything necessary for you to be in perfect relationship with Him as His child. Being a child of God can become your identity the moment you trust that what Jesus did restores your place with Him.

When we trust God and accept this position as His child, we become co-heirs with Jesus and receive every spiritual blessing from our Father in heaven. Spiritual blessings include everything from salvation to the Holy Spirit and a peace that surpasses all understanding.

God longs to have a restored relationship with you. He sent his only son to die for you so relationship would be possible. I can’t think of a more passionate way God could have demonstrated his love for you than to die for you. He’s just waiting for you to believe and trust that what He did counts for you.

Author | Lindsey Conway