IDENTITY

Your identity is not just a country that you belong to. It's about who you are.

I'm going to be transparent with you, I really struggled with writing this blogpost. Identity was the topic of discussion for this post, and I'm always advocating for people investing in themselves. I was writing about Identity, and the importance of educating yourself on your own culture and other's. However, even I was getting confused myself throughout this blogpost. I had to admit the harsh truth to myself that I still did not know my identity to the fullest.

I think the problem was I was looking for a one sentence kind of explanation of what my identity is. The way people are so quick to label themselves by their country, or by what they do. "I'm Sri Lankan", "I'm a blogger" , "Im a ...." "I am this...".

For so long I identified myself with the term 'Blogger', because thats what I was doing, thats what people have known me for, and I've been doing this for years. So my country and what I do, I labeled myself as that, so much that I almost tried to find my worth in that. This is who I am. If I'm not successful in this, then what am I actually doing. You may do this too, for instance you may be an amazing youtuber, athlete, actor, singer. You have a gift and interest in this area, but thats what you do, not who you are entirely.

Your identity is not found in your works. The same way you are not saved by your own works and doing.

You are a person of GRACE, 
                                    VALUE, 
                                         POWER 

Your identity is a manifestation of your character.

The first step is to be self aware. My last post on wholeness teaches that. To be self aware of your strengths and weaknesses is the first step to wholeness. But it is on this wholeness journey, that you will also come to a better understanding of your identity.

Your purpose is what you have been called to do, what you have been placed on this earth for,  and how your going to do that.

Your identity is about who you are. That takes into account your character and how you see yourself.

The prime reason I was actually so confused for so long, was because; I didn't see myself right.

I didn't really know where I fit in. Uni is actually mad. If you don't know yourself, people will actually tell you who you are. You will be swayed easily, if you don't have a strong foundation of yourself already set. I wouldn't say I followed the crowd all the time; but if you are not rooted in who you are, what you believe, your boundaries, values. You will for sure; find yourself being influenced by others rather than being the influencer on campus.

When you don't see yourself right, you can't really see all the good things about you, how people actually see you for the amazing person you are, so you start to compare. When you don't see yourself right, you start to think you are not enough. Plus, it becomes hard for you to believe what God says about you. So my identity is now clouded, its not a clear picture.

People would always say "Your identity is in Christ"

I never got that. That didn't make sense to me, and that wasn't a good enough explanation for me if I'm being honest. You can't just say that and not explain it to me. There needs to be more.

How can my identity be in Christ if I feel like I'm living like the opposite, and doing the opposite of what God had intended me to do. My character isn't exactly aligned up with what the word of God says. I'm feeling lost. I'm stagnant. When I came into Christ, the Lord really renewed me in a new way, but theres more pruning that God is still doing.

This wholeness journey, is all about that. Pruning, becoming self aware, extracting what is not of you so you can make room for greater things. Investing in yourself in such a way that you can move forward and become greater. Healing takes place in this journey, where God strips you, and takes away what you thought of yourself beforehand.

So, if Christ is my identity,
and my identity is my character

God is pruning me, and taking out what does not resemble Christ in my character.

Then, that must mean he is replacing the old with the new. Christ is taking out the insecurities, lust, anger, pride, negative thoughts,  need for acceptance, spirit of comparison, etc, etc, etc...

Right now I just have an image of a filter. Christ is renewing me the same way the filter cleans and purifies the dirty water with fresh water.

Christ gives me an identity. HIS identity is what I start to adopt. That Identity when I came into christ never got lost, it was just forgotten. It was forgotten because I was not in the word of God long enough to read it or see it.

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27

To understand what the identity of Christ is, you have to first look at the image of God. It is in the image of God that you see his qualities and see what kind of being God is. What is the image of God?

The image of God is not our body or how we look like. It's not an outward thing. We are created in three parts... body, soul and spirit. This makes us a human being. We are uniquely made, with different features all together. But our body is not the reflection of God entirely. Our body is a temple, that acts as a shelter for our spirit and soul which lives on the inside. The truth is our body will one day fade and cracks will start to show in our physical nature, but Christ will still remain.

Because God is not limited to flesh and bone. Our identity remains strong even if our body deteriorates.

The image of God is not shown through our works either. Our works can glorify God; but we don't have to do certain things, to earn an identity. We don't have to do certain things to become righteous in the eyes of others, we already are, because Christ is. So if we are made in his image, and God is righteous, then we must be also.

I've come to understand why people say Christ is my identity, only now. Because, to be created in the image and likeness of God, it is an image that shows righteousness. Our identity reflect's God's character. Characteristics such as love, humility, grace, mercy, discipline, justice, goodness. Someone that shows sacrificial, undeserving kind of love. Someone that is not judgemental nor prideful, but walks in grace and authority. Because Christ is confident and secure, so am I. This is Christ's identity, because this is the character and image of Christ.

"I am crucified with christ; and it is not longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me." Galatians 2:20

In this verse, Paul is saying clearly how Christ lives in us. So if Christ lives in me, his identity can also live and his character can shine through me, becoming my identity also. Get it?

Paul is not saying to live in a christ-like manner, and be this perfect christian and act all holy-art thou. Don't imitate God's behaviour; we can try but we won't succeed. Because we are all so flawed, we're not striving to be perfect christians here. But it's the consciousness that, the christian life is not a matter of behaving or pretending to be like Christ, but of allowing Christ himself to live in and through us.

But here's the thing; this sounds really nice and all. But it doesn't always feel that way. I don't always feel confident, I'm not always eager to love other's the way I should or the way Christ does, I don't always feel secure in myself, and nor do i have the discipline needed to even go to the gym!

Because of our brokenness it doesn't feel that way. It's hard to see our selves the way Christ does sometimes. Life knocks us down, so our image and self-confidence as a result then gets distorted. We lose sight of what our identity is.

"But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Corinthians 3:16

There is freedom in Christ, freedom to be my best and authentic weird self. In his presence I am not judged, but loved. With freedom comes choice. So I choose to be in constant fellowship with him, so even when I backslide and go back to my old ways and character. Times when I don't "feel like it" or believe what has been spoken over my life. It is in God's presence where I am bare faced, and he transforms me into the image of glory. Daily.

The way he is the potter, and I am the clay, he is moulding me daily into what the word of God says I am. Which is truth.

so rather than listing a bunch of attributes and inner qualities such as love, grace, value, power, etc... to explain to someone what your identity is. It's easier to just say... 'Christ is my identity'. Because Christ is the embodiment and manifestation of all those qualities listed above.

You share the same qualities as Christ. So if Christ lives in you and is working through you; then you are also a person of value, grace, power and love! That's who you are. Not what you do, but who you are.

* ABOUT THE SHOOT  *

"He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for; in him we live and move and have our being; as even some of your own poets have said "For we are indeed his offspring". Acts 17:26

You should be proud of where you’re from because this is where God has placed you and he has placed you there for a reason. In each culture, we can see how people have used the gifts God has given to create magnificent things such as clothes, paintings, buildings , different languages, music and even food! These are all beautiful.

So don't be so quick to bash those who are from different backgrounds, cultures and even religions. Rather than being ignorant, be willing to learn, so you become not only socially accepting but you become socially aware. 

Be proud of yourself,
Be proud of your identity... that is ultimately who you are,

I don't want to contradict myself when I say I come from Sri Lanka, because I do. But first and foremost I come from God. I am a child of God. My identity in Christ is more important to me, than anything else that I may be connected to on this earth. I have a higher place in Christ, than I do anywhere else.

At the end of the day, every nation, family, person belongs to God. When we say God is our father, he's not just the father of christians, or the father of 'the good people'. 

He is the father of HUMANITY.