We live in a world that is doing everything it can to define us. We are surrounded by things telling us who we are, what we do, and who we want to be. Whether it's a Nike add, a song on the radio, a movie, or any number of other things it is hard to go anywhere without being forced to question whether or not we are comfortable, confident, and content with who we are.
It's hard to be any of those things. It's really hard to be confident in the abilities I have been given when I have not and will not be able to do the things that I see around me bring happiness and honor.
It's hard to be comfortable with myself when my self doesn't look very much like his self and his self is the one everyone is talking about.
It's hard to be content. We are told that we should never be content with how we are because we could always be something better. We could do more. We could be more successful. We could be more athletic.
I could be a better teacher. I could have a bigger business. I could have a faster growing ministry. I could... I could... I could...
But every time I get anywhere I find out that I'm not quite where I could be, because I could still go even farther than I thought I should a few months ago.
The fact is I am told what I should be and could be, and create what and who I want to be, because I am not happy with who I was created to be.
In fact, I don't even know who I was created to be.
Because I barely know Him in whose image I was created.
In Genesis chapter 3 we find a chilling story that sets a trajectory for the rest of time and sets the foundation for this confusion that we continue to live in. Here we find the story of the very first sin, and the very first lie ever spoken to humanity. In this story Eve is not given a piece of fruit that pollutes her mind she is told that her identity is in question. Adam, beside her, hears the same lie, and so begins the downward spiral that is the fall of humanity. The first lie ever spoken was a lie of identity. The serpent told Adam and Eve that they could be something more than God created them to be.
And to this day that lie is seeping through the world around us blurring and distorting the grace of God and convincing us that we need to do more and be more and say more than we are now because we are not what we could be. When really the greatest we could ever be is nothing more than looking into the eyes of Jesus and accepting His redemption.
We are convinced, even as Christians, we are not good enough. We constantly falter between being incredibly unsatisfied with who we are and being incredibly arrogant with who we are. We seem to either be convinced that we are worthless and no one needs us, or that we are glorious and in need of nothing. Whichever place we fall in we must realize that what we need is to see God, because it is His image in which we were created and we will never know who we are and be confident in that until we know who He is and are confident in that.
We can be nothing more beautiful or powerful than who God created us to be. It is His image we bear and it is His glory we carry. Our identity is not wrapped in what we do, but in what was done for us, in the love of Christ.
The only way to find ourselves is to seek Jesus, and seek Him with all our hearts. What we find then will truly satisfy.
It's hard to be any of those things. It's really hard to be confident in the abilities I have been given when I have not and will not be able to do the things that I see around me bring happiness and honor.
It's hard to be comfortable with myself when my self doesn't look very much like his self and his self is the one everyone is talking about.
It's hard to be content. We are told that we should never be content with how we are because we could always be something better. We could do more. We could be more successful. We could be more athletic.
I could be a better teacher. I could have a bigger business. I could have a faster growing ministry. I could... I could... I could...
But every time I get anywhere I find out that I'm not quite where I could be, because I could still go even farther than I thought I should a few months ago.
The fact is I am told what I should be and could be, and create what and who I want to be, because I am not happy with who I was created to be.
In fact, I don't even know who I was created to be.
Because I barely know Him in whose image I was created.
In Genesis chapter 3 we find a chilling story that sets a trajectory for the rest of time and sets the foundation for this confusion that we continue to live in. Here we find the story of the very first sin, and the very first lie ever spoken to humanity. In this story Eve is not given a piece of fruit that pollutes her mind she is told that her identity is in question. Adam, beside her, hears the same lie, and so begins the downward spiral that is the fall of humanity. The first lie ever spoken was a lie of identity. The serpent told Adam and Eve that they could be something more than God created them to be.
And to this day that lie is seeping through the world around us blurring and distorting the grace of God and convincing us that we need to do more and be more and say more than we are now because we are not what we could be. When really the greatest we could ever be is nothing more than looking into the eyes of Jesus and accepting His redemption.
We are convinced, even as Christians, we are not good enough. We constantly falter between being incredibly unsatisfied with who we are and being incredibly arrogant with who we are. We seem to either be convinced that we are worthless and no one needs us, or that we are glorious and in need of nothing. Whichever place we fall in we must realize that what we need is to see God, because it is His image in which we were created and we will never know who we are and be confident in that until we know who He is and are confident in that.
We can be nothing more beautiful or powerful than who God created us to be. It is His image we bear and it is His glory we carry. Our identity is not wrapped in what we do, but in what was done for us, in the love of Christ.
The only way to find ourselves is to seek Jesus, and seek Him with all our hearts. What we find then will truly satisfy.
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