Identity
is such a big thing, especially among teens since we are still trying to define
who we are and what we want to become.
If we do not have a solid identity we as teenagers become insecure and
unsure of ourselves (trust me, I know this firsthand). Well, pastor and author
John Piper says this,
"...Fight
for joy, not by doing things that establish your identity with God, but by
becoming what your identity already is with God in Christ. Become what you are."
So in
other words, when we try to establish
who we are through what we do our identity is no longer in God, but in the
works we do. We kind of become like the
Pharisees. But on the other hand if we
find our identity in knowing that we are children of God bought at a price then
our identity already is in Jesus Christ - we become who we are meant to
be. We become children of God who are
Spirit filled and not ashamed of the Gospel.
A couple
of years back I saw that "Super Christians" did tons of good
works. I thought to myself, "If I
start doing lots of good works in the church then maybe I will become a better
Christian." So, I got involved with
the evangelism team, I helped out with the Christian boys group and I also
became a leader for the pre-youth group. Bam, I was becoming a "Super
Christian"! Or so I thought. In
real honesty I was actually becoming a bit of a Pharisee. I was trying to find my identity in my Godly
works. But what I didn't understand was
this:
"Your
identity in Christ is not about what you do for Him, but what He did for
you."
Now, I am
not saying that you should stop doing Christian deeds, but don't find your
identity in them. Instead come to the knowledge that your identity has already
been established by Jesus. He thought
that you were so special that He gave his life for you. When you truly know this then you will
naturally want do good works when you let Christ's light shine through you.
In the
next post I am going to cover the topic: "Why we are so special and
valuable when we become a Christian.". Trust me, this is seriously cool.
A great read. I can see that you have a good understanding of finding your identity in Christ.
ReplyDeleteAnother angle you could have mentioned is how we often look to the approval of others around us, we join and take part in social norms and behaviours even when they go against the grain of what we know is right in Christ's eyes. We do these things such as Gossip or give in to peer pressure because they provide us with peer validation. We find ourselves accepted but by our friends standards and not God's.
Just a thought to add to your fantastic writing. :)
Bridget.
Yeah, that is another great angle to take. I think I will write about that sometime soon.
DeleteThanks for your encouragement.
Jacob