Until my 30’s, I struggled with my “identity.” Though I was born again, and supposed to be a saint, I felt like a sinner caught in a web of failure and futility. But then, the Holy Spirit revealed to me who I was (am) “in Christ.”Today, I feel no more saintly than in those days of ignorance, but I now have an objective, biblical definition of who I am! Feelings do not define me. I am a son of God, a new creation, a new self (John 1:12; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:24): truths that exceed my best self-evaluation.
And herein I employ Ray Stedman's words: “We think that we have to change the way we act in order to be different; God says, No, I have made you different, and when you believe it you will automatically change the way you act. This struggle can cease only when we reckon on who we really are in Christ. It is a new self-image that delivers us, when we begin to think of ourselves as God thinks of us...” (Edited) When you know who you are, and whose you are, you will also come to understand why you are here (Eph. 2:10).
Good morning Greg,
ReplyDeleteSorry for the lag in response. I think that identity and behavior are inextricably linked. There are those that believe that our actions come out of our belief about our identity (being creates doing; be -> do). There are those that believe that our actions shape our identity (doing creates being; do->be). I believe that we are who we are and that is a summation. By that I mean that we are both doers and beings. I do not think that God looks at us as fractured persons (either two parts – body/soul, or three parts body/soul/mind, or four parts – heart/soul/mind/body, or five parts heart/soul/mind/body/spirit) but as a whole. And as such, I think that our identity determines our actions, but also our actions determine our identity. The reason that I start with this, is that I have been thinking about my pyramid. It had been my thought that the world tells you “get stuff, do things, become happy.” But God says, “Be like Jesus, do things that reflect that identity, reap the results of that lifestyle.” I do believe in sow/reap and cause/ effect. And I believe that the universe does not lie (Rocks are hard. Water is wet). And as such, if we look at what we are reaping, we have significant clues as to what we are really sowing. In essence, our “effects” (feedback from the real world) tell us what we are truly committed to cause. And based on the ramblings in the earlier part of the paragraph, what I would now say is that the feedback that the world is telling you is speaking about both what you are doing and who you are being.
Thanks for the thought starter!
Godspeed!
Larry Q
Yes, Larry. I agree. whatever you 'do' reinforces who you think you are. Negative behaviors have as much power as positive behaviors to persuade us that we 'are' that person. Romans 7 speaks to this 'double personality.' In modern language, Paul is saying the one who does the negative is not the real me. The real me wants to do the positive thing. But the longer we 'sin', the longer we reinforce that we are sinners, not saints.
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