Identity

Ephesians 5:1- Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

Every person perceives his life through what he believes his identity is. This view of himself influences his every action. We form our identity through imitation: of other particular people and through conforming to certain norms or philosophies. For example, if your strongest conviction about your identity is that you are a child of God, then you will imitate Christ’s life and conform to His teachings. Certainly for the non-Christian but even for the Christian himself, his identity will not remain fixed throughout his life, but becomes a search born from his experiences. In other words, one’s answer to the question “Who am I?” is challenged by what he’s done and what happens to him.

We need to realize that we are made in God’s image and likeness, which means that we have tremendous value and dignity. We are also made to love and serve God and others as His beloved sons and daughters. This is our identity. Everyone is lovable. Our perception of our identity is influenced by our day to day life. We are not always treated the way we should and our perception of our identity can be distorted. We often get tempted to believe that the way someone has treated us reflects our worth and identity. For example, if someone tells someone that they are a waste of time, then the person could be tempted to believe that they are a waste of time. But, it is really the other person’s failure to realize your value and/or that person wasn’t living in a way that conforms to their nature. We need to deeply realize who we are in Christ and stand firm in the truth.

Secondly, as humans we need to conform and imitate something. If we aren’t trying to conform ourselves to Christ, we probably are trying to conform ourselves to someone else. Of course we don’t do this perfectly and it requires discernment on one own spiritual journey. It is clear that, when someone is in their High School years, they are tempted to conform themselves to what is popular and acceptable. Students may start conforming themselves to what their friends think is cool or to what celebrity they think is cool. Then they start acting like, dressing like, and speaking like that person or persons. The person’s perception of their identity constantly changes according to the fad of the day or the current friends they have. Of course, there are celebrities and friends that are good influences but at the heart of it they really don’t know who they are as God made them. This is fleeting. With the increasing relativism in our culture, especially in regards to identity, it is often thought that there we can just conform ourselves to whatever we want and be happy. So the belief that there isn’t universal human identity is common place. So it is easier to get lost in fads of the day in our culture. On retreats, we help students realize their identity in Christ and on a recent retreat a student shared how he realized the emptiness of constantly changing the view of who he is. I believe he was coming to realize the joy and freedom that comes with having an identity in Christ and God was defiantly already working on him! There isn’t a better time to pray and think about your identity than during the Christmas season. As we celebrate the coming of the Son of God, we can reflect on how we are God’s beloved sons and daughters.

Merry Christmas,

Dennis