Who am I? It is difficult to find peace when you are constantly
questioning who you are. I want to be accepted. I want to make
everyone happy and often that comes at the expense of my peace. There
is no peace in pretending. I feel like I am always under a microscope
being examined and judged. As a leader, I must guard against letting
others define me. The world would have us to believe that our identity
comes from our possessions, our degrees, our careers, and our
neighborhoods. We find our identity in what we have and what we have
accomplished. The bible defines everything in relation to God and
calls us to find our identity in relation to God’s call on our lives.
God’s desire for us is that we will have the same self-awareness, of
whose and who we are, as expressed by Paul in his letter to the church
at Corinth.
“I, Paul, have been called and sent by Jesus, the Messiah, according
to God’s plan, along with my friend Sosthenes. I send this letter to
you in God’s church at Corinth, believers cleaned up by Jesus and set
apart for a God-filled life. I include in my greeting all who call out
to Jesus, wherever they live. He’s their Master as well as ours!” 1
Corinthians 1:1-2 MSG
Paul states clearly who he is, an apostle of Christ Jesus. He reminds
the church who they are, the church of God in Corinth, sanctified in
Christ Jesus and called to be His holy people. This is our identity in
Christ. We are called to be his holy people. We are sanctified in
Christ Jesus. When He calls us, He equips us. His has placed in us
every gift that we need to carry out His call in our lives, while we
wait for His return. What a peace comes from living our lives
according to and in the assurance of God’s call on our lives. Knowing
that we are equipped for the task. That is freedom, not being defined
by our things, our looks, our careers, and other things of this world.
These things can all be taken away but our identity in Christ will
never change, can’t be taken away and can’t be diminished. There is
tremendous peace that comes from knowing who we are but more
importantly whose we are.
~ Alisia