Christian, Where is Your Identity?

I tried to run faster, but I couldn’t. No one pays attention to the slow ones, I thought. Later, I looked in the mirror and thought, I wish I was prettier. But then, with a groan, I realized I had done it again- I had put my worth and identity in what I could do and how I looked. This is a huge struggle in my life. Whether I’m running, writing, or sitting in CC class, I’m battling the lie that says my identity is found in what I can do. Along with this struggle comes the flood of self-love, pride, and the pitfall of comparison. But frankly, if my identity was based on my performance, I would be in a pretty bad situation. Our Problem We must first realize our big problem. We need to throw off pride and realize who we really are without Christ. We are sinners. All. Of. Us. Absolutely nothing we can do can save us, and we could never earn value. Sound bad? This is why Christ’s death and resurrection were so important. He was the only way that we could find a new identity… Where Our Identity Is Found Human life is precious because God created us. God puts value on human life. If you are a believer, then both you and I are to place our value in Jesus. As God’s children, we can know that even though we used to be God’s enemies and entirely tainted with sin, God saved us and made a way for us to be His own children. THAT is our identity! We are God’s children! Nothing can separate us from His love (Rom. 8:38-39), and our identity is in Him. If we place our identity in what we can do and then fail to do something, our identity is “lost”, we no longer feel valuable. If your relationship with Jesus defines your life and worth, absolutely nothing can change that. How Does this Change Us? As children of God, we are not to feel that all is lost when we fail at something. We are not to believe the lie that we are no longer worth something if we don’t perform. We are to rely on God for strength and go to Him with our failures. When we fail, the response shouldn’t be “try harder”, but it should be, “please help me, God”. Dear friend and sister-in-Christ, remember this when you are tempted to put your identity and worth in your performance or appearance. Remember who you really are. Where is your identity found?