Identity built through Christ

John 1:12  

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed his name, he gave the right to become children of God” 

Identity is always something I have struggled with. I believed that if I did not act a certain way with certain people I would not be accepted. I built my identity on the perception of others: letting other people's opinion of me dictate my value as a person. One thing I didn’t realise was that my value had already been written, something established long before I was even born. My value: your value, is built through Jesus. And so, we can’t let the opinion of others affect us, whether positive or negative because our identity is not built on the perception of others but of God.

We are all seen differently by different people, maybe your someone’s brother or sister, a mum or a dad, or something else. The most common association to our identity is our names. It’s what our friends, teachers and family refer to us by: an association that distinguishes our likeness. But what if I told you that even our names aren’t the most important thing. Reading this scripture, we see that God calls us his “children”, which is not only a privilege but a blessing: far more than any treasure on this earth. Unfortunately, not everyone will have this title. This isn’t because God isn’t loving, he is, far more than you could imagine, this is out of our own choice. Some of us have chosen to build our identity on other things: things that are temporary and not long-lasting. The good news is that the process to become “children of God” is simple. The scripture says we need to both receive “him” and believe in “his name,” and “him” is referring to Jesus. But let me not sugarcoat anything to you, just because it’s simple doesn’t mean there won’t be trials and tribulations along the way. I’m not saying there won’t be days where you don’t feel like putting Christ as the foundation of your identity. I’m not saying that at times you won’t let the opinion of others affect you. All I’m saying is that setting Christ as the foundation of your identity requires work, like with anything. An identity built through Jesus is an identity that does not wither.

Picture a house that is built on sticks. Any little wind or rain is going to cause damage to the house. Now picture that same house but built with bricks, any major wind or rain won’t affect the house because of the foundation it was built on. That is what it’s like with our identity. We get to choose our foundation so why not build it on something firm: something that doesn’t easily wither and stands strong. Like wind or rain, other people's perception of us can cause us to stumble. We try to deem ourselves as ‘socially acceptable’ without deeming what’s acceptable to God. And so, if there is one thing you leave with today, an identity built on anything other than Jesus is volatile and bound to disappoint you sooner or later. Choose Jesus, choose a house that secures and protects you.