"I need to find myself.. who I am";
"I'm trying to find my identity".
Perhaps you have heard these phrases. Or maybe used them yourself. I know I have. The thought of "finding ourself" is most often expressed by teenagers, and young adults. It's a simple concept of trying to find one's place in the world. "What makes me uniquely me?" "How do I express myself and my personality?"
It's in those years of our lives, in that growing season, that we begin looking for something to pattern ourselves after.
But think for a moment, what it means to "lose" yourself. You generally hear it said, "find your identity", but what about hiding your identity in Christ?
Colossians 3:2-3 says, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."
We know, according to the Word of God, that we are not here on earth to try to be anything great in ourselves. Our soul purpose is to live humble, godly lives, and to point all of those around us to our Lord and Savior. In everything we do, we are to give God all glory. Not trying to draw attention to ourselves, or even seek the approval of our peers. The more that we surrender our identity to the King, the more He is glorified and honored.
Romans 3:23-25 reminds us that not one of us are anything in ourselves, but because of Christ, we have been redeemed as sons and daughters of God.
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;"
In the article, "The Destiny Question", Leslie Ludy puts this thought together so well:
"If you truly know who He is, you will understand who you are. Only when our identity becomes wrapped up in Jesus Christ and not in ourselves can we become the set apart [Christians] He has called us to be. As Ian Thomas so eloquently reminds us, 'The Christian life can be explained only in terms of Jesus Christ., and if your life as a Christian can still be explained in terms of you -- your personality, your willpower, your gift, your talent, your money, your courage, your scholarship, your dedication, your sacrifice, or your anything -- then although you may have the Christian life, you are not yet living it.' "
If you are searching for yourself, remember, God has an amazing purpose for your life! Only when we give Christ our identity, and say "Lord, do with me what you will", that's when He can have His perfect work in us. Give Christ your hopes and dreams of everything you want to be.. Instead of seeking for who you are, just pursue Him and search for who HE is.
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, thought in not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
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