How Do I Find My Identity?
Who am i?
This question could serve as the basis for a philosophy class. Trying to find the answer motivates daring missions as well as long contemplative walks.
So, Who Am I?
I am a woman. A wife. A mom. A grandmother.
I am a Christian.
But, who else am I?
I am an American and a Texan.
I am a lover of documentaries, the Bible, Mexican food, great novels, coffee, Converse and Birkenstocks, and libraries.
I am a writer, podcaster, speaker, former school principal and waitress.
These answers make up parts of my life. Some required huge portions of my years and some only selected time periods. But while I DO these things, I shouldn’t find my identity in them.
Why? Because almost all of them can change, fade, or blow up, either literally or figuratively. A husband can leave. A child can die. Sickness can alter my body and take abilities away. And if that happens, where will I find my identity then?
You might wonder about how I would lose my identity as a Christian. How could that blow up? Yet, I’ve experienced it when my feet are standing in the title, my assumptions, or others instead of on the Person. What happens, when my identity is Christian and a major Christian leader falls far and hard? When Ravi Zacharias's sins became public, all of his apologetics didn’t matter anymore. His ministry became obsolete and lots of fingers pointed at the hypocrisy of “Christianity.”
Many adults who were raised in Christian homes where “Christian” meant hard-standards, rule-following, and a focus on appearance, as well as an absence of mercy and love, have run hard and fast from that identity. To them “Christianity” means judgemental hypocrisy.
Church hurts, political division and arguments, and popular culture can push people further from wanting to identify themselves as Christian.
We all know that the American Christian church is in decline. The younger generations, many raised in the church, flee organized religion in droves. Universities attack faith and culture derides it. Fewer people identify as Christian than ever before.
If I find my identity in changeable factors, my foundation easily crumbles.
So, Where Do I Find My Identity?
Resting on an unchanging, and unshifting platform means that when pendulums of thought and popular belief swing wildly, my feet and security remain. And the ONLY solid and unchanging place I have found to stand is Jesus.
Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a ROCK of refuge for me, a strong FORTRESS to save me! For you are my ROCK and my FORTRESS; and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me; (Psalm 31:2-3 ESV)
Our whole world feels like it’s going crazy. If I attempt to find my security, identity, and peace in the state of affairs around me, it’s not happening. Not if I have my eyes open.
I’ve shucked the idea that worldly success, renown, my children’s education levels or income bracket, or any other exterior measurement can determine who I am.
Instead I desire an identity that won’t alter even if bombs blow up on my street tomorrow.
Here’s a quote from my book Putting Jesus On:
“How I understand my identity determines where my feet are. Do I stand on the shifting sand of the world and its indecisive definitions that change with the wind? Or on the solid Rock that holds during every storm, unchanging and secure? ”
I want that security for you too, and I know down to my toes that you will only find that if you are wrapped in the identity Jesus gives you.
The Best New Year’s Resolution
Why don’t you make the best New Year’s resolution possible. Actually- I guess it’s not a resolution as much as a decision. A commitment to find out all Jesus offers you when you are His child. (If you don’t know Jesus as Savior, then click here! That is the best of the best decisions you can ever make.)
Once your feet are in Jesus’s camp, then you still have decisions to make. Am I going to follow and obey Him? Will I choose His way or my way? Will I abide in Him? Will I allow Him to take up residence in me?
It’s easier to say a big yes to Jesus once, than to say the million tiny yeses along a lifetime with Him. But each time I follow, I find more joy and rest on the other side than I would have ever had doing things my own way!
One of my biggest challenges In life with Jesus is to REST in all that He provides. I’m not sure why I prefer the rags of the world or the worn-out-ness of my flesh, but I choose my way so much more often. I am just such a Doer, and I act as if Jesus needs help to work in me, or I have to put in my 50%, just to make sure everything is even-steven.
My best resolution, commitment, or decision for 2023 is to envelop myself in Jesus and all He provides. To lay down my efforts and stop trying to find the best self-improvement program. And instead step into what Jesus provides me as His child.
But this will require a daily decision to stay wrapped in Him, instead of myself. I need to put Him on.
How Do I Find My Identity In Jesus?
Right now, I am hosting a focus on finding our identity in Jesus. Using my book, Putting Jesus On, I will focus each day on one piece of identity that Jesus gives us as His daughters.
And I would love you to join me.
There’s no cost to this program, unless you choose to purchase a devotional to follow along. I highly encourage you to do that, because you will have access to more Scripture for each day and places to journal.
But I will be reading the devotional on my podcast so you can also just listen each day.
If you would like to sign up to have access to the special web page for this focus, please sign up here:
From there you will go to the home page where material will be added throughout the month. You will also receive email reminders and more information throughout the month.
I’d love for you to join me!
Want To Join Me for the Best 2023?
Would you like to have your best year yet and it had nothing to do with new exercises, a fad diet, or better, smarter goals?
None of those will change you like finding your identity in Jesus. Join me and revamp your spiritual wardrobe so that regardless of how well that diet goes, or how long you maintain your other resolutions, your feet stay solid on Jesus.
I am leading a group through my book, Putting Jesus On.
And you can walk through all that 2023 holds, arrayed in the finest look of Jesus available.
Let’s stop trying to change ourselves. Let’s quit striving to become the best version of ourselves that we can formulate. Instead, let’s rest in the provision of our Savior.
Want To Know More?
Hit the button below and it will take you to an informational page, where you can sign up for the extras of the program. I’m sending encouraging emails through the month to those who sign up. Remember, this is FREE!
Link for my book is an Amazon affiliate link.