Greetings Prayer Warriors,
It happens to many people and seems to span the generations. At some point in their life, they experience an “identity crisis” and think they need to “find themselves” and discover who they really are. Interestingly, what they choose to do next rarely puts an end to their questions.
However today, while listening to a podcast, I heard something on “identity” that was simply profound. It came from a man who experienced homosexual feelings, but chose to instead live a life centered in Christ. His comments apply to all of us, since we are all sinners.
God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27
The man began, “Sin, and our fallenness, taints every area of our life. That means that everyone is fallen in their sexuality and in that sense I’m not unique. I can’t just read off from my inclinations how God had made me, because sin has skewed how we are meant to be. I can’t just say that if I have feelings of same sex attraction that must be how God has created me, therefore they must be good, because that just affirms Genesis 1 & 2 but ignores 3.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:12
He continued, “We only know who we truly are when we meet the person who made us. Our identity can never be something we discover, it can never be something we create, it can only be what we receive. So. I am who Jesus Christ says I am. I am created in the image of God. I’m created (as a male) in the image of God and I am redeemed and adopted and I’m a son of God. That is the core of my identity and all of those things are eternally true and they never change. It doesn’t matter whether I am having a good or bad day, all those things are always true in a way my sexual feelings are not. They may be deep, they may feel very significant, but they are not part of my eternal identity. And so therefore I shouldn’t make them part of my core identity now because they are not fundamentals of who I am. They’re temporary, thankfully. Our sexual feelings are not constant. Either in intensity or sometimes even in direction. So it’s a very unstable thing [on which] to locate your deepest sense of identity. We’ve got to take our identity from God, from scripture and what scripture tells us and that’s always going to be healthier. And why that is good news is that if my identity is my sexuality, then I’m not really living unless I’m fulfilling my sexuality. My whole sense of being whole and complete and authentic and self-actualized is going to be dependent on me fulfilling my sexuality. Whereas, if that is not the core of my being and of my identity, actually, it doesn’t matter if I don’t fulfill it because it isn’t the be all and end all. “
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
Let us pray that we all discover our true identity as chosen sons and daughters of God. For that discovery always leads to true freedom and eternal happiness.
Here’s to freedom under God!
Peace, Joy, and Love,
Janet
Help someone see themselves as God sees them…a masterpiece! Pass it on!
