IDENTITY

What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? – Psalm 8:4

Yesterday, we meditated on the Attitude of Humility, which some people wrongly equate with Inferiority! We therefore need a better understanding of IDENTITY. Anyone who is in Christ is a New Creation (2Cor.5:17). For such a person, humility does not preclude having a positive self-image and healthy self-esteem. What is your attitude toward yourself? Who are you? Who do others say you are? How do you see yourself? As God does, or as men say you are? God does not see as man sees: “…For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1Sam.16:7b). God sees the heart; human beings see only the outward appearance, and can thus be easily deceived.

What is your self-image? Do you appreciate your peculiarity as a person and your uniqueness in Christ? God created you, and if you’ve accepted the free gift of salvation, Christ has redeemed you with a positive self-image and a healthy self-esteem. Do not abandon or hide these virtues under the cloak of religion and false humility. Learn from Paul, one of the humblest of Christians that ever lived. He said: “For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Cor.15:9-10). He acknowledged his humble origin and the place of Grace, but also recognised who he was in Christ.

You need to experience Divine Discovery – the revelation of your real, but hidden identity. First, you must discover who you are by creation: the kind of person God intended you to be when He created you as a human being and not a beast of the field. Second, you must discover who you are by recreation or redemption: the kind of person you are in Christ, having received Him as your Lord and Saviour. Here is the real Identity of anyone who is in Christ:

• You are a Unique Personality: “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psa.139:14)
• You are a First-Class Creation: “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” (Eph.2:10)
• You are a Person of Unlimited Potentials: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels” (2Cor.4:7)
• You are a Person of Purpose: “predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Eph.1:11)

Your natural limitations can be enhanced. You can improve on your shortcomings through the grace and gifts of God. ‘GOD plus You’ is an unbeatable Team – a majority: “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?” (Psa.118:6). You are never alone when you believe in Jesus: “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom.8:31). The masses of Israel had a “grasshopper attitude” and that became their lot in destiny – they died like grasshoppers, wandering and withering in the wilderness (Num.13:30-33; 14: 37-38). But Joshua and Caleb they had a Victory Mentality, Winner’s Attitude, and an Overcomer’s Perspective. They saw the giants from God’s viewpoint.

Join me in declaring these truths about your Identity in Christ:

• God in Me can meet any Challenge and Win!
• I am who God’s Word says I am. If it is to be, it’s up to Me!
• The ME I see is the ME I’ll be. The “I am” determines the “I can”!
• My limitations can be supplemented and my shortcomings augmented by Grace.

You have a divine destiny that must be attained. You have a reason for being that must be realised. You have a purpose for living that must be accomplished. The seeds of greatness, success and increase are within you. Bring them forth now! There is one thing you can do better than anyone else: You can be Yourself!