This article to dedicated to all people who have wrestled with “identity issues.” People who have succumbed to the deceptions and lies of Satan and people that make them feel that who they are, are not enough.
It’s also for those who look to the media, relationships, money, material things or all the “world’s goods” searching for wholeness, when all along, true peace and satisfaction comes from God!
Yes, “a peace” as the Bible so eloquently expresses “that surpasses all understanding that will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7). We will never truly understand who we are apart from God because God is the orchestrator of all things. And, it is through prayer and communication with the Father and meditating on His Word, that we find the answers to who we are.
For instance, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous – how well I know it.” (Psalm 139: 13, 14).
Now, as you contemplate this particular citation from scripture, does that sound like a person that doesn’t have an identity? No, of course not! That sounds like a person that is undoubtedly special and an integral part of God’s purpose and plan for the world.
I am who I am
You are who God created you to be and that is why you should never minimize your value and significance as a person. But, as you look at yourself, tell yourself, I am who I am because “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.” (I John 4:4).
I am who I am because God created me to be on this earth and to operate as an “ambassador for Christ” (Ephesians 6:20). I am who I am because no one can be who God created me to be other than me! And I am okay with that and have no desire to walk in “someone’s shoes.”
God created all of us for a reason and if we can see ourselves the way that He sees us, then, there wouldn’t be so many “identity issues” in the world people want to be something other than who they are, people looking to celebrities’ lives as an example of how they should live, not realizing, many of them have their own issues and many things are not “always the way they appear to be in the media.”
God loves us just the way that we are! We don’t have to be taller, younger, richer, lighter, darker or anything else because all of those things are not important to God. God accepts us with our “flaws and all.”
People have a falsified idea of others and no one can live up to the world’s depiction of humanity nor should they strive to do so. Because as a result, they will come out empty and defeated because it is an unrealistic view of life!
My suggestion is to look to God! Know that God is the final authority in all things and that anything He does is not for our ultimate demise but for our ultimate good!
And, anytime you feel that you are receiving messages about who you are that are not in alignment with what God says about you, my suggestion is to read and study His Word. For in it, you have all the answers to who you are and all that plagues you in life.
For example, the Bible story of the “Samaritan woman at the well” (John:4). She obviously wrestled with identity issues and sought her value and significance in multiple relationships but it wasn’t until she came into the presence of the “true living water,” that she could find peace and meaning in life because Jesus was all that she truly needed.
And, Jesus is all that you need to fill the void and ache that is in your heart. As 1 Peter 5:7 states “Give all of your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
Also, as you read the Scriptures and spend time in God’s presence, you will find the peace and confidence to know unequivocally without a “shadow of a doubt” who you are and consequently you can say with boldness and without reservation: “The Lord is my light and my salvation so why should I be afraid?
“The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even when I am attached, I will remain confident (Psalm 27:1,3).
