by Von Dailey, Florence
Who do you identify as? Do you identify as a doctor? Is that who you are? How about an athlete? Is that who you are? Maybe you have an addiction, is that who you are?
I submit that all of those are things you do but your real identity is not in those things. It doesn’t matter if what you do is great or if what you do causes great pain to yourself or to others. That cannot be who you identify as. That is a facade, a lie, to keep you where you are. Let me explain. Let’s say you are a great doctor who has saved many lives. You have a lot of education and you continue your education on a regular basis so you are able to stay current in the most recent technical updates in your field of work. And, this is who you identify yourself as. You know you are good at what you do, you know you have helped a lot of people, you are well respected in your community as a great doctor. Then the unthinkable happens, a terrible accident makes it so you cannot practice your profession any longer. Now who do you identify as? Now who are you? A doctor who use to do great things?
Or, let’s say you have an addiction that has taken everything away from you, your job, your spouse, your children, your home. Do you identify yourself through your addiction. Is this who you see yourself as? If you answer yes, that is a lie Satan is telling you to keep you down.
Our identities cannot be found in what we do. Whether what we do is great and helps people or is terrible and hurts ourselves or others.
Our identify needs to be in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our rock, He is our savior, He is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow. He promised to never leave us or forsake us. He gave us everything we have and all glory needs to go to Him. If you’re that doctor, or put in any profession, your ability, skills and drive come from the Lord and the glory belongs to Him. And when the day comes that you can no longer be that doctor or whatever your profession may be, Jesus will still be there.
The same goes for you if you’re the person with the addiction. That addiction does not control who you are in Jesus, you have a choice. You can either wallow in your addiction and submit to Satan’s lies about you or you can choose Jesus and give your problems to Him. As a child of God, you are a son or daughter of the creator of the universe, you are a saint in the Kings court, your identity is through Him and all things are possible with God.
Simply stated: your identity is not defined by what you do! Your identity is who you are in Christ. Either you are a son or daughter of the King, God almighty or you are not. The great thing about being a son or daughter is that you get to choose to be in the Kings court or not. You have the choice to choose light over dark. You do not have to stay in the dark.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that He gave his one and only son, so that who ever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
As believers our identity is in Jesus Christ. Who we are is who He is. We are children of God and our gifts are from Him and we should be using them to glorify Him.
Ephesians 1:5
He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will
1 Corinthians 12:27
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for creating us, thank you for always being available to us, thank you for being the same always. Thank you never leaving or forsaking us. Thank you for your promises and for paying my ransom. Thank you for giving your all so that we may have all. Thank you Jesus for making it possible for me to be a son or daughter of God. I ask today Lord that if somebody does not identify with you Lord, that the truth is revealed, I pray that they see the light and want to know you. I pray that there is a hunger within them to know more and more about you and that they choose your light over darkness. I pray that they choose to identify in you and not what they do. I pray in your precious name Jesus. Amen.
Gomez says
A god is not required for achieving sobriety. I am an atheist and I have not had a drink in over 20 years.
Von Dailey says
I’m glad to hear about your sobriety, that’s awesome and an accomplishment you can be proud of. But, who do you identify as? I’m curious, what do you use for your “compass”? Do you identify as a recovered alcoholic? I don’t know you but can safely say you are much more than that.
Gomez says
I am a creator., father and free thinker. What do I use as my “compass “? I just try and be a decent person. No god is required for that, and most certainly not the Christian god, a being who is described as vain, jealous, insecure and vengeful. I mean, seriously, what kind of god is so insecure that he actually commands people to worship him? That sounds much more like an insecure, flawed mortal being like Kim Jong in or a mentally unstable, former game show host turned president than it does an all powerful god, wouldn’t you agree?
Gomez says
Excuse the typo. I meant Kim Jong-un. Dang spell check! 🙂
Con Dailey says
Thank you for taking the time to respond, I really appreciate that. I read your response this morning and I’ve contemplated how to best respond to your thoughts in the space that seams appropriate in the Letters to the Editor section. And I have some questions for clarification. First, how do you view yourself as a creator? I ask because there are many different types of creation and was just curious how you see yourself. I understand that you’re a father, and as a father, am I correct that you have rules for your children even if only to keep them safe? I’m going to assume you do for purposes of my response. You also mentioned that you are a free thinker. Please explain what that means to you. Because in the New Testament Jesus set is free. I’m going to ask again, what do you use as a compass to determine if you’re a decent person? I ask only because different cultures, religions, regions etc. believe different things to be either bad or good. So, I’m curious, what factor do you use to quantify yourself as a decent person? You stated that God is insecure, vain, jealous and vengeful, and without going through the Old Testament and trying to figure out which verses of the Bible you’re referring to, I thought the commandment “You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me” might be a good representation of what you are talking about. And before I go any further, let me make the distinction, we are under a new covenant now with the birth of Jesus and His crucification and resurrection which is depicted in the New Testament. But, I don’t want to get too far off track. Just as you have rules for your children, God has rules for us. Not because He’s vain or vengeful, but because He loves us. He knows our nature to worship many things but worship of idols and such takes our vision away from truth and confusion takes over. Take a look at the world today, have you been asking yourself why so many things seem out of whack? Man, there is so much to talk about, but I’ll leave you with a question and a cout statements. Why do you feel God is not necessary and especially the Christian God? To be totally honest, without God, I’d not be the same person I am today. The Bible warns us about false prophets and false teachers, and I’ll be the first one to say, that Christians can sometimes be the worse Christians.