Your identity.
When we say identity we don't mean what it says on our government-issued ID. There is a whole lot more to us than our name, address, weight, and whether or not we are an organ donor. When we say identity we don't mean what we do for a living, who we are married to, whose parent we are, or our social status. Who we are is not defined by the circumstances (good or bad) that surround us. When we say identity we mean WHO we are; the person that is revealed when all of the external things are stripped away. When we remove everything (our address, job, family, hobbies, etc.) who is left behind? Our identity is not defined by what is happening externally to us; our identity is defined by Who is living internally. The person that we are is defined by our relationship with Jesus.
If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that we are fierce believers in Jesus Christ. We recognize that He is the foundation for everything. We can do nothing apart from Him and we are nothing apart from Him. It should come as no surprise to you that we point you back the Risen One when we speak about our identities. Not many of us would point to Jesus when asked who we are. When in reality who we are can only be found in Him.
As we learn more about walking out our Christian faith and grow deeper in our relationship with Jesus, the more that we learn about the importance of our identity. It seems that one of the primary reasons for our sinning against the Father and against one another stems from issues with our identity. Whether it is a conscious choice to not be associated with our identity or an unconscious forgetting, our identities are paramount to our decision-making abilities. We begin to act wrong and make wrong decisions when we do not know WHO we are.
So, who are you?
This whole idea of identity is one of the things that we had to learn during our time of healing the past few years. In separate encounters with the Holy Spirit on different occasions, we both had the Father speak to us regarding our identity. Somewhere in our individual journeys growing up we had suffered an injury to our identities. For Serena, this did not cause her to fall away from God but it did cause some issues that needed to be dealt with by God the Father. For Josh, his identity issues were caused by a severe emotional wound that had never healed properly. As a result of improper healing, a callous was formed between him and God over the wound, that did not allow God (or anyone else, for that matter) in to those deep areas. No one was allowed to properly repair and heal the offense, or even know about it. But both of us had a deep need to hear God Himself declare who we are. And God, in His faithfulness, spoke to us in ways that ministered to our very need. For Serena, God affirmed who she knew she was but often had a hard time allowing herself to feel it. For Josh, it was a little more invasive but God spoke to the wound and rebuilt his identity. In our own ways and in our own time both of us were able to hear God tell us who we are.
When we come to a place where we are able to hear God Himself declare our identity to us in a way that only we will understand, it is very difficult for the enemy to steal that from us. This is why the enemy wants to destroy our marriages. Our marriage is one of our deepest relationships outside of our relationship with Christ. Our marriages are a reflection of Christ and His bride, the church. The enemy wants both of those relationships to be torn down. The enemy will use our spouse, the one that we pledged our life to, to tear our identity down.
When a spouse cheats, leaves, or divorces they have in some way lost or left their identity. However, OUR identity does not change. Circumstances and situations do not change our identity. Our circumstances and situations may change how WE feel about our identity but our identity can only be changed by the One who gave it to us. And He is not fickle or temperamental like we are. He does not change His mind about our identity because of what we have done or have not done. No matter what our spouse may say about us or do to us, our identity did not, and will not, change.
How do we respond to a spouse that has lost/ left their identity? We continue to respect and honor them based on the identity that the Father gave them, not by their reaction to it. Yea, it's going to be hard. Yea, it's going to be ugly. Your husband left? Honor him as the man of God that he IS, not how he's currently acting. Your wife is cheating? Love her as Christ does the church and give yourself for her. If we find ourselves in a place where our spouses are making poor decisions, understand that they will continue to make poor decisions until they learn or remember who they are. So, pray for them. Pray that God, the Author of their identity, will reveal their identity to them and cause them to remember WHO they are.
So, who are you?
You are a child of the King. You are a marvelous work of God's creation. You ransom was paid for by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. God, the Father, had you in mind at the time of creation and has ordained each of your steps. You are one that the Father treasures so highly that He has numbered each and every hair on your head. He has commanded the angels to bottle each one of your tears that you have shed. You were not a mistake or an accident. Nothing has happened to you through chance or happenstance. The situation that you find yourself in is one that the Father already knows about and is currently working on the miraculous redemption for. You have been chosen. You are not forgotten.
Whatever is happening to us on the outside cannot diminish who we are on the inside. We never find out who we are by looking inside of our wallet. We find out who we are by looking to the Everlasting Father. He has always known who we are because He was the One that made us. He is always ready to make His child's identity known to them. All that we have to do is ask.
Josh and Serena
So, who are you?
You are a child of the King. You are a marvelous work of God's creation. You ransom was paid for by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. God, the Father, had you in mind at the time of creation and has ordained each of your steps. You are one that the Father treasures so highly that He has numbered each and every hair on your head. He has commanded the angels to bottle each one of your tears that you have shed. You were not a mistake or an accident. Nothing has happened to you through chance or happenstance. The situation that you find yourself in is one that the Father already knows about and is currently working on the miraculous redemption for. You have been chosen. You are not forgotten.
Whatever is happening to us on the outside cannot diminish who we are on the inside. We never find out who we are by looking inside of our wallet. We find out who we are by looking to the Everlasting Father. He has always known who we are because He was the One that made us. He is always ready to make His child's identity known to them. All that we have to do is ask.
Josh and Serena
