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Weekly Devotional: Liberated by Identity




ASHLEY MOFIELD

ASHLEY MOFIELD

            Who are you?  Not as in, your first, middle, and last name?  Or where are you from?  I’m not even addressing where you worship, work, or play.  I mean, truly, who are you?  Or, as they say, who in the world do you think you are?  At the core of your personhood, in the deepest part of your soul, what is your identity?   Do you find yourself searching for significance?  Sometimes, people “soul search.”  Often, it is the old adage of “finding my place in the world,” or learning to love myself.  Do I matter? 

            These are all great questions to consider.  As a born-again Christian, I can say that understanding who I am in Jesus is one of the more liberating aspects of being a believer.  To be sure, when a person is walking in a relationship with Jesus, and understands the way God sees them, it is a game changer.

            One of my fears is that many people seek to live out their faith without understanding their identity, which can lead to legalism.  This type of faith-walk finds its merit in what you have to do, rather than what you get to do.  Instead of teaching people who have trusted in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus who they are, it becomes the status quo to teach people what to do, or how to live.  Please do not misunderstand me.  Knowing who you are affects what you do and the life you live.  However, do we tend to get the cart before the horse?  If I have a relationship with Jesus Christ, I need to know how he sees me.

            In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the apostle Paul states, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation!”  According to Galatians 2:20, when I am in Jesus, my old life and identity dies.  At the core of my existence, something has changed.  The continual presence of my Savior through the power of the cross has made the change.  A change comes from an “ex-change,” where He has given me His very life.  Grace will not only be what saves me, but what defines and empowers me as I walk with Jesus each day, trusting in Him, and living the life to which he has called.  A life in Him exists where I can have victory over sin.  A life of service and love become reality. 

            Consider 1 Peter 2:9-11.  “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are a people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.  Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.”

            If you are a believer, do you find your identity in these facts?  You are a child of God (chosen people), who is allowed the opportunity to know, and get to know your father.  You are a priest that can enter into the presence of God at any time and any place.  In fact, if you know Him, He’s always there!  You are bride, desired by Him and made pure by Him.  You are His servant, and you belong to Him.  You are even His friend, as greater love has no man than this, that he would lay his life down for his friends.  As Christians, we get to enjoy being with God!  You are an alien in this culture, and God wants to use you to point people to Him.  We are His ambassadors.  We “get” the privilege of representing Jesus in the world.  You are loved.  You are forgiven.  You are empowered.  Now, walk by faith in the One who made all this possible. 

            Actually, my identity is not really about “me” at all.  It is all about Him who loved me, and gave Himself for me.  You matter because Jesus paid the ultimate price so that you could have a new identity in Him.  Jesus is everything we need.  That, my friend, is liberating!  Live, breathe, and walk, in Him.   

Ashley Mofield is the Senior Pastor at White House First Baptist Church, 2800 Highway 31 W in White House, (615) 672-3266.

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