#Identity in Christ

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

I've been trying to become closer to God lately! One of the things is... can I still have an identity outside of my Christian faith? I know Jesus calls us to love God with all our hearts, minds, and souls, and I genuinely would love to! However, my brain tends to take things to the extreme (I have OCD, so this is a common theme for me even outside of my faith). I guess I'm just scared that if I love God wholeheartedly, will I lose different aspects of my life other than faith? And if I do have other aspects of my life other than my life, does that mean I'm not actually loving God with all my being as Christ calls me to do?

Hi there, so sorry for the delay! This is an excellent question, and here is my answer (yes, in meme form lol, I couldn't resist):

If a faith community or leader is telling you to let go of things that bring you joy, that nourish your God-gifted creativity and uniqueness, that help you connect to the larger world in your own distinct way...run, don't walk, to the nearest exit. That's not a faith community that is invested in Jesus's design for abundant life for all beings (John 10:10).

___

Loving God and following after Jesus doesn't mean relinquishing what makes us us — God makes us us, bestows unique gifts upon each of us, because God delights in diversity!

We can't have community without distinct parts that come together into the whole. We can't have relationships — with God, with other humans, with all Creation — without having a self out of which we relate to the other. So cultivate your identity — your true identity, liberated from a pressure to conform to capitalism and other evils; and seek ways to support others in achieving their truest selves.

Instead of seeing some parts of your life as "outside your Christian faith," learn to see even the most mundane elements of life as part of how you live out your love for God. Maybe you love making jewelry, or cute lil comics — take the time to feel gratitude towards the God who gifted you that creativity; or use your art to bring a smile to someone's face. Maybe there's a piece of fiction that you're really into — what lessons does it teach you about how to live in relationship with others, or how can you cultivate kindness in the fandom community? Maybe you have a really distinctive sense of humor; use it to cheer someone up who's having a bad day. And on and on.

I direct you to this post where I talk more about how we bring our individual identity into our relationship with God and God's community.

For instance, there's this quote from theologian Shirley Guthrie in Christian Doctrine:

In Christian Doctrine, Shirley Guthrie puts this idea of God’s plan for individuality within community very well:

“The doctrine of creation in the image of God preserves individuality just as strongly as it condemns individualism. A genuine relationship between ourselves and others is possible only when there is distinction between us in which we remain who we are and others remain who they are. To attempt to do away with our own or others’ unique individuality is to make a real relationship between us impossible, and just as inhuman as individualism.”

So be yourself, find others who delight in who you are, and seek to experience God in all things, not just the specific things that tend to get labeled "godly."

And know that there isn't One Right Way to love God and love neighbor — there are as many ways as there are living beings. You'll find your unique way organically, as you go. <3

[troubledontlast1]

Your worth should come from God, not from your looks, men, women, achievements, or failures.

[pinestripe37]

You do realize you’ve chosen to make a man-made religion your identity — much like some have chosen to make man-made gender stereotypes into theirs. It’s no different. It’s a belief system people exaggerate and use to define themselves.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

It's less about religion and more about Jesus Christ Himself. My identity -and Salvation- rests not on what I do, but what He's done for me and the Love with which He's loved me.

This is about Who I want to, get to, am blessed to spend the rest of eternity with. It's about belonging, about rejoicing, about being held securely forever.

And I believe it's very different- because stereotypes are indeed man-made, while as a daughter of Christ I'm blessed to identify with the One who made me. Using man-made labels only overcomplicates life, so the way out is to instead identify with the Creator. To let the Artist define you as His Artwork.

Another contrast I want to point out is that stereotypes can never define all of you, they don't cover your entire life and in the end I believe they don't really matter at all..

Unlike a finite label, having a Relationship with the Lord is what my whole life orbits around. He is my Life, my Purpose; and each area of my life from using my gifts and hobbies to bring Him glory, to thanking Him for the food on my table, to falling asleep at night in the shelter of His Grace, to the very breath He's put in my lungs- it's all about walking with Him. It's about Him and that's so incredibly beautiful to realize.

My identity is found not in stereotypes, but rather in the Truth of Who created me, Who Saved my life, Who's always with me, and Who everlastingly loves me the most. This Truth, unlike labels, is ever-present and completing.

And I suppose it really doesn't have to be this way- as an innocent Man Jesus didn't have to die on the cross for me. A Holy God doesn't have to let us call ourselves His. And yet by His Grace.. He loves us.

And I can't think of a more beautiful identity than to be Loved.

[sincerelykent]

Satan always does his very best to challenge our identity. If he can destroy our identity, especially in Christ, then he has an upper hand. He never plays fair and always uses the same trick that he used on Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden: “Did God really say that?” (Genesis 3:1). This is why it’s very important to read the Word of God for yourself and also get to know God for yourself. Open up your heart to know who He really is. Satan challenged Jesus concerning His identity. The devil slithered his way up to Jesus and said, “If you are the Son of God...” (Matthew 4:3) What I love about this is that Jesus KNEW who He was and didn’t have to prove it to anyone, especially the devil, because the devil already knew who Jesus was. Why do you think the devil was trying to get Jesus to question himself, “If you are the Son of God?” Jesus replied back to the devil with “it is written." (Matthew 4:4) He hit him with what the Word said, and we have to train ourselves to do the same. If you hear Satan telling a lie to you, you tell him “it is written." Give him the Word and watch that lying devil slide back.

Matthew 3:16–17 is mostly known as The baptism scripture for Jesus, but this holds value in identity, especially from the Father.

“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (NIV)

The voice from heaven is the Father speaking to Jesus and also John saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” The Father was letting all those around know this is MY SON, confirming Jesus’ identity as the Son of God. The wonderful thing about this is, again, Jesus didn’t have to prove who He was. He didn’t have to do a bunch of things to make people believe who He said He was. It was made very clear who He was and who He belonged to. The Father sealed it, and when we allow God, our Heavenly Father, to seal our identity in Him, there is NOTHING or NO ONE that can take it away from us, only if we allow them.

The Message Bible records it like this “The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God’s Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.”

Jesus was chosen and marked by love and delighted by The Father. Jesus was loved, and He didn’t have to demonstrate it because the Father confirmed it. Jesus’ identity was in The divine one (God). To know that we are marked and delighted by The Father is enough for me to SHOUT but just like Adam and Eve, we believe a lie over the promise. We were created to be the delight of God’s life. Our whole purpose of living is to glorify God. Everything He gives us is meant to glorify Him. I don’t know about you, but this does something to me. It’s difficult to do anything in this world if you don’t know who you are and who you believe in, because in this fallen world you will fall for anything.

Let me tell you this: our enemy hates us. He hates us with a passion and does not want to see us win in any way, but he is A LIE and in the end WE WIN because we serve a good God. Please do not give in to the blatant lies that the devil and his spillers spew.

Let God confirm your identity!

Don’t give an ear to the devil and all of his lies. See, the devil holds before us all the material prizes of identity. Look this way, you gotta be this, gotta make this much money, gotta have this car and this house, and have to be in a relationship/married to be loved. But all God wants is our hearts; he wants our hearts to do work in them. This is why we accept Christ in our hearts, believe that Jesus is the Son of God, our Savior, and confess that we are sinners that need a Savior to save us. Don’t get things twisted, PLEASE.

Having our identity in God definitely requires a clean life. To give ear to satan and ear to God at the same time is downright dangerous. You cannot serve two masters; it has to be one or the other. You are either going to believe God or the devil. You are either going to serve God or the devil.

1 John 2:16 talks about not loving the ways of the world. We are living in the world but we do not adapt to the way they do things.

“For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” (NIV)

Lust of the flesh= Craving to do something contrary to Gods will.

Lust of the eyes= Craving to possess something contrary to Gods will.

Pride of life= Craving to be something contrary to Gods will.

Those desires listed above do NOT come from God. Many of us think, “Oh, God blessed me with this relationship,” but the truth is this relationship has steered you away from your relationship with God, has given you more heartache, broken promises, and challenged your purity. God is not saying to not enjoy your life; He’s saying don’t get caught up in those things that will destroy you and lead you away from Him.

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life will always get us in trouble because they are the backwards way of living.

God has given each of us something to do. We must do our part in the body of Christ. Don’t be worried or concerned with what another person is doing; keep your eyes on your own paper.

God holds true and authentic love because he wants the heart. He doesn’t want somebody who has all of the beauty on the outside but is mean as hell on the inside. No no no. God is about change.

It is vitally important for all of us to read, study, and speak the Word of God. That’s where we get all the answers to life.

[coptorthodox]

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:27

[affirmedinchrist]

Affirmations from Ephesians

[biblebloodhound]

Filled with Divine Fullness (Colossians 2:6-15)

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[bmegrl9124]

For whoever needs this

[padderley14]

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[pinestripe37]

True identity is in Christ- the beautiful and simple and eternal identity, not found by overthinking but freely given to us. <3

do ppl not realize you can like.......just not think about your identity

[sagekjs21]

You can be certain that you have been completely healed when you no longer fear abandonment or rejection. When you come to terms with the fact that it is possible for any relationship to end in your life, and yet this is not met with a cold hard determination but rather a calm acceptance. You realize that no matter what happens, everything will be completely fine because God is truly the center of your life. Relationships do not define you. People do not define you. You're worth is not found in them. You are fully capable of asserting your value in a relationship while facing the very real possibility that this may bring about its end. But you realize fully who you are in Jesus, and how valuable that makes you. You realize that because of your true identity in Christ He will never let you be utterly destroyed. And therefore the only relationship that has eternal value is your relationship with God. Other relationships are blessings, they are beautiful things, but you no longer fear their ending. Because they do not dictate the course of your life. Jesus does. This, embracing and fully feeling all of this, is when you know you have been completely healed. And may God be forever praised for this. ❤️ 

[mindfulldsliving]

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[dkcdude]

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[letspraynow]

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[kmac4him1st]

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Surrender your anxiety. Be still and realize that I am God. I am God above all the nations, and I am exalted throughout the whole earth. Psalms 46:10 Jesus, this is my worship, this is my offering. I withhold nothing from You, Jesus, I trust You. I believe You have what is best for me purposefully in play in my life. I believe in You, in Your love for me and even if my soul is suffering, I lift…

[coptorthodox]

Our Identity in Christ: We are Made in God’s image, Chosen, Loved by God, Precious to God, Accepted, Forgiven, Saved, A new creation, A child of God, Family member, An heir of God, United with Christ, The body of Christ, The temple of the living, Free, Protected by God, A citizen of heaven