As we just came through this Thanksgiving holiday I thought a lot about how thankful I am that my salvation is secure it Jesus. I also thought about how grateful I am that it is secure because of what Jesus did, and not because of anything I can do or have done. I simply came the place in my life where I knew that I needed Him in my life worse than I needed anything else, and I asked Him to take over. But again, as I thought about how grateful I was, I also thought about the fact that Jesus loves me...period. Not because of who I am, but just because He loves me. What a great feeling....
I have had so many relationships and friendships in my life that were really based on what I could offer to the relationship. Who I was in the other person's eyes, and their acceptance of me, being very conditional. That kind of relationship can only last so long because eventually in your humanness you are going to let someone down in your life. And when you do, if that person turns on you, you find out the pain that comes from the feeling of not being "good enough". "Conditional love" is a human thing. We created it, and unfortunately a lot of people get very hurt by finding out that the person they thought cared about them, only cared about them if they could maintain this idea of who they were in the person's eyes. There is nothing at all wrong with trying to be the best you that you can be. But the moment "who you are" takes over "whose you are", you can find yourself in a bad place.
God created us in His image (Genesis 1:26-27), and that does not just mean our physical appearance. It means our hearts, the things we feel, our spirit, the way we were designed to think....all of these things are made in the image of God. His designed us to be in communication with Him at all times (just as Adam and Eve were), and to be without sin. And had man been able to keep that design, life would look completely different for us all. But even after that was messed up by sin, He did not give up on us. He sent Jesus to live, die and be resurrected to cover the ugliness of sin and again show us how much He loves us. So when you think of who you are, your first thought should really be "I am _________ because God designed me to be this and Christ died so I could be". If you look at your life and you do not know who you are through the eyes of Christ, then it is never too late to change that. Again, there is nothing wrong with the things you do and are interested in that make you different from the next person. (as long as they are pleasing to Him) But those things should not be what your identity is made up of. God's desire is for each of us to know who He created us to be, and the purpose He created us for. Your talents and/or interests may very well be a part of that purpose, but seeking Him first is really the only way to find that out for sure who He wants you to be. And sometimes as He begins to reveal that to you, He may call you out of something that you "thought" made you who you were.
God's love is the purest....it is completely unconditional. Yes you can do things with and in your life that please Him, but you will never do anything to cause Him to love you any more....or any less. And that idea is so hard for us to wrap our heads around. So know that life with God is not about who you were, or who you think you are...its about your heart and it's about being willing to let Him show you who He wants you to be. When you can walk in the freedom that He already sees the best in you, even when you don't see the best in yourself yet, it releases you from the pressure of being who the world tells you that you should be.
I know I have written a lot about identity in my blogs, but it's because I think a lot of people are walking around in an identity crisis. Not to many people really know who they are in Christ and I really hate that for them. He made you....so don't you think He knows you best. Better than you even know yourself.... Being who He made you to be does not mean you will have to walk in perfection, it means your heart will desire what He desires for you. And even when you do mess up, you still know whose you are and you will let Him correct and direct you back onto the right path.
God, Thank You that You have an identity, a design and a purpose for each and every one of us. Thank You that You do love us unconditionally, but never leave us where you find us. You have a plan for us and You patiently guide us into that plan. Help us release ourselves to You so we can walk in the freedom of being who You have created us to be. In Jesus name, Amen.
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