I’ve been thinking a lot about how crazy our society has
become these days. The latest of which
is, of course, Bruce Jenner and his debut as a woman. The epitome of manliness in the past,
decathlon winner, and all-around amazing athlete has decided he wanted to be
something else…something he’s not.
This has made me think a lot about identity. God has given us all different talents and
gifts. He has blessed us with different
callings on our lives based on the gifts he’s given to us, and has equipped us
to be who He has made us to be in Him.
If any of you have ever watched the show, “American Idol,” there were
people on there that flat out could NOT sing.
As much as they practiced or worked on it, they simply do not have that
gift at all. Just because they decided
one day that they wanted to be the next American Idol does not make that who
they are. It doesn’t matter how badly
they wanted it, they can’t just go have a surgery and magically be able to sing
the next morning. Maybe nowadays with
computers it could be close, but at their core, they are not a singer, and they
never will be. They were not meant to
be. God had something else in mind, but
chances are they will never find out what that is if they are constantly trying
to be something they are not.
As much as I love nurses and how much they help so many people,
I know that is something I could not be.
I do not like needles or blood or any other bodily fluid for that matter
and I think if I ever were one, the real nurses would have me as their patient
as soon as I started.
The thing is, we have gotten so far into the “have it your
way” culture that we no longer give any value to the truth of who we are. If we want something, we should have it, even
if it completely goes against the truth of God’s laws and simply against
Him. As Christians we are to lay down
our lives. We are to go after Jesus and
all He’s called us to be…not simply what we think we want to be.
This also parallels with our identity in Christ. What happens to the overwhelming majority of
people, including Christians, is they allow the wrong voices to convince them
of things that simply are not truth.
There is a very real spiritual world out there and there is an enemy who
is trying to convince us of an incorrect identity. If he can get us to believe incorrectly about
who we are, then we are not any threat at all to him. We allow satan to come into our minds and
thoughts and try to convince us that we are full of shame. He convinces us that we are no good and that
we could never do anything great for God.
He convinces us that we’re bad parents, bad spouses, or not good enough
to do what He has called us to do. He
has labeled us fat, ugly, or failure—and so we live our lives as if these
things are true. He tries to convince us that we have to live a perfect life
before God can use us the way He wants to.
NOT TRUE.
So many times lately I’ve been convinced that my family
would be better off without me around.
This is simply a lie from the enemy and a massive blow to my
identity. Do you understand that me
believing a lie about who I am in Christ and living according to that lie is
really not much different than Bruce Jenner trying to say he’s a woman? It’s simply UNTRUE! It’s NOT who I am. We’re trying to be and
acting like something that we are not!
If God calls me more than a conqueror, than that’s what I
am. I can’t be anything else. I’m not a failure. If God calls me beautiful, than that’s who I
am, I can’t be anything else. I might
believe that I am, but it’s simply a lie. If God calls me a good wife, that’s
what I am, and I’m growing in it more and more everyday. If God calls me righteous because of Jesus,
then I’m righteous. These things ARE who
we are! We will not become them one day, this is our identity RIGHT NOW. You know why?
It’s simply because of Jesus.
It’s because of His work on the cross.
It’s because of who He is and what He’s done, not about how I measure
up. No matter how hard I try, without
Christ I will always fail. Period. He makes me who I am. He makes me righteous. If I am living in any other way then I am denying
the work of Christ in me; I am focused on me, and not on what He’s done for
me. It’s simply all about Him. ALL about
Him. When I look at myself and see a failure, then it becomes all about me, not
Him. I am not a failure. I can’t be.
It’s not my identity. God has a
plan for you. He has a plan for me. It’s not to shrink back and to allow the
enemy to identify who we are. It’s to
believe all that God has said of us. YOU
are a masterpiece. There’s nothing else
you could be. God knit you together in your mother’s womb. It doesn’t matter how much you want to be
something else or have someone else's talents…you’ll always be who He made you to be. He has the final say, so why not believe Him
and live this life in the freedom we find in Him?
God is so good.
Ephesians 2:10—“For we are God’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to
do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
You are a masterpiece…so live like you believe it!
