Do you have an understanding of who you are? Are you still trying to figure it out? As a Christian, are you still trying to determine your identity? It is important to know who you are in Jesus Christ and gain full understanding and purpose in your very existence.
Each of us is different from the other person. You have to know who you are and what you represent. If you don’t know who you are, you will be confused about your purpose. Christianity is something that needs to be presented and portrayed in order to be seen by others. There must be a willingness to show it.
Who are you? If you know who you are, it will drive you in everything. Do you have an identity crisis as a Christian? The crisis is in not knowing who you are and in how you should live. Do you use the word “Christian” as an identity without knowing the meaning of the word?
Perhaps the greatest question to ask is, “Do you want to be a Christian and be identified as a Christian?”
To go through an identity crisis is to be uncertain about one’s feelings about himself. There is uncertainty as to issues of character, goals and origins. There is a lack of clarity in the person.
Do you really believe that God loves you, values you, and that you are born again? Do you believe that you are spiritually born again from above? Can you identify with it and know that it has happened in your life? You didn’t just mumble some words and repeat the actions of someone else…you should know if you have made a spiritual transition that cries out for God.
John 3:6-7
6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again.
Romans 8:9
You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
Your life should not be controlled by your sinful nature or your own rationale. Decisions you make in your life should be sound decisions that are pleasing to God and not based upon a worldly perspective.
A loss of identity will sidetrack you focus on your life’s purpose.
2 Corinthians 4:7
Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.
In Greek, the word “treasure” refers to “God’s storehouse.” The clay jars represent us (who we are). The verse notes the power of God in our lives the natural events on earth. He made the deposit of this treasure within you because He is trusting you to carry out His Word in obedience.
To have identity is to be a specific person or individual; a person to claims to be what he when he is described by others.
When people look at you, do they see the likeness of Christ? Do you have identity in Jesus Christ?
Romans 8:29
For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.
Israel had their share of identity problems. Even though God had gone before them and fought battles for them, at times, they desired to be like other nations, or they did not want to be confronted by God, even though they were His chosen people.
1 Samuel 8:6-7, 19-20
6 When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand sinful, so he prayed to the Lord. 7 But the Lord told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected Me as their king.
19 The people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us. 20 Then we’ll be like all the other nations: our king will judge us, go out before us, and fight our battles.”
Isaiah 30:9-11
9 They are a rebellious people,
deceptive children,
children who do not want to obey the Lord’s instruction.
10 They say to the seers, “Do not see,”
and to the prophets,
“Do not prophesy the truth to us.
Tell us flattering things.
Prophesy illusions.
11 Get out of the way!
Leave the pathway.
Rid us of the Holy One of Israel.”
Christians today, who are in an identity crisis, would rather conform to the world. God calls a believer to be a peculiar and different person. He calls you to be a person who is different from the world and to live in such a way where you are responsible and godly in your behavior. Christians are to take a stand and identify with who Jesus Christ is.
To have an identity in Christ is to seek righteousness and to do the right thing.
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (Romans 1:16 NIV).
The gospel is the teachings of Jesus Christ. Salvation is the boundary that God creates to be saved (or rescued) from the dangers of this world. To identify with Jesus Christ is to accept His teaching and His guidance in your life. He wants the best for all of us, but there is a special blessing for those who truly identify with Him.
Akron Alliance Fellowship 