CULTURAL IDENTITY CRISIS
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
John 10:10 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
I believe Jesus gives us an outline of three things the enemy is trying to do: steal our identity, kill our relationships, and destroy our dreams.
Let’s focus on the first part. The identity crisis in our culture is very real. People struggle with who, or even what, they are. I believe a big part of this struggle is because we often base our identity on our performance, possessions, or perfection.
Those who perform at a high level give themselves high marks in their identity. If they perform well, they think they are special.
Those who have accumulated lots of possessions can think of themselves as special because of what they have.
Those who live perfect lives according to all the social rules consider themselves to have a good identity.
But this is not the biblical pattern for identity. We have value because we are a unique creation of God. We are made in His image. We are His workmanship, or as one translation calls it, His masterpiece.
My identity cannot be tied to what I have or haven’t done. It must be fixed on who I am as a creation of God. “Fearfully and wonderfully made.”I believe that if I know my identity, I will discover amazing things that can be done in and through my life. That is why the thief wants to steal my identity.
This is why it is crucial to spend quality time with God daily so that our identity is wrapped up in our relationship with God not our performance, possessions, or perfection. There will be others who perform better than us, have more than us, and are more perfect than us. But when my identity is in my relationship with Jesus I can enjoy “a rich and satisfying life.”
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit, please help me to receive what You say about me and plant that deep in my heart. Help me not to allow the enemy to steal my identity. I am who You say I am.
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