Time to confront spiritual identity theft
It's critical to understand who you are in Christ.
By Dr. Dan Erickson
CrossCurrents Magazine, June 2007
Use the phrase “identity theft” and most people think of credit cards or some other financial tool that has been compromised.
But there’s an even more important identity theft that goes on daily: spiritual identity loss. Most believers in Christ don’t know who they really are.
A friend of mine recently summed up this phenomenon: “I have spent a great deal of time wandering around in my own private wilderness. I live without clear direction. God has been faithful to supply my basic needs, but I seem to keep going around the same mountain year after year, going nowhere. I keep facing the same obstacles, temptations, and giants.
“I know God is my Father, but I am not sure He even likes me. I know I am going to heaven, but I don’t think that is enough. When I pray, my prayers seem to hit solid rock. I struggle in my thought life, in my marriage and I don’t have one close friend to talk to.
“I have spent my life trying to find success and significance. I don’t know what to say yes or no to. I’m confused and I don’t think God really cares. I am losing everything that really matters.”
My friend was desperate to have some answers to life’s questions. His business demanded that he draft a personal mission and purpose statement. He had set his goals and objectives, he had prioritized and evaluated, but had only succeeded at things that didn’t have eternal significance.
I think my courageous friend said what a lot of us are feeling. Behind my friend’s frustration and despair was an unmet need. He needed to find his “Greater Yes!” – a transcendent purpose that would make life make sense. But he would have to start by answering the questions of life.
Who am I: Identity
Most people don’t know who they really are. The answer is not found in where we come from, what we do, or what we own. Our identity is not determined by our career, other people, the world, our bank account or our failurers. Instead, our identity is determined by what God says.
In Matthew 3:16-17, at Jesus’ baptism, God the Father spoke to his Son: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” On this day in history, before the entire world, God the Father declared that this Jesus was His Son. God has this same love toward us. How do we know? Jesus told us Himself when he said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you” (John 15:9). Jesus loves us with the same overpowering love that the Father displays toward Him.
Whose am I: Significance
God said, “This is my Son.” Jesus is not just any son — He is God’s Son, a Son whom God loves and who is “the delight of his life” (The Message). This is significant because the Bible calls us God’s spiritual sons and daughters. The father solidifies the significance of a child’s identity.
Why I Was Created: Purpose
People don’t know why they were created, but each of us is destined for a God-given purpose that meets a God-sized need. It calls us to a destiny that God wrote on our hearts before the creation of time.
What am I destined to become: Potential
God loves and is pleased with us because He already sees what we cannot. He sees through His Son what we will become. God calls on us to embrace the fact that we are key players in His great story.
Each of these critical questions is answered for us by the Apostle Paul: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
God has chosen us to play a part in the story of history. He has destined us to make a difference. Imagine the possibilities!
Dr. Dan Erickson, author of “Finding Your Greater Yes!” (Thomas Nelson Publishers) is chief servant leader of People Matter Ministries (www.peoplematterministries.com).