Editor’s Note: Identity Issues

Female brunette with towel on head after shower shaving face with foam and blade looking away.

We should care about our identity because God cares about our identity. However, the term has been rendered into a Christian buzzword or christianese as others like to call it.

Now, it doesn’t mean the topic isn’t relevant, true, or accurate. What it does mean is that when a word is misused it loses its weight and gravitas. We’re then left with a watered-down definition that is palatable to our desires and feelings.

This is what has happened with the topic of identity. It’s become a hot topic but there’s been little revelation.

Whilst the Bible doesn’t explicitly mention the word, the theme pervades and is interwoven throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Bible approaches the topic not in the way the world approaches i.e., self-actualization and self-identification. The word of God directly opposes this.

We can only discover our God-given identity in our maker. We often hear of the analogy of the need for the creation to refer back to the creator and the manual for an understanding of its full capabilities and the true intention it was created for. I’d say this is an accurate image of identity. True identity in Christ cannot exist outside of Christ.

In the Bible we often see God identify and call people in ways that directly contradict their current state. A shepherd boy a king. An infertile couple princess and father of many nations. A weak and timid called mighty man valor.

So, take the time to discover who God called you, despite your current situation and your past.