Wednesday, February 26, 2025

The New Identity

We are usually known by the company we keep.  You’ve heard the adage, “birds of a feather flock together.”  For all intents and purposes, this is true.  Wannabes, as I call them, are individuals searching for recognition of some kind, because their identity “sucks” in their words.

Kids and young adults sometimes join vicious gangs that roam the neighborhood and city streets at night looking for innocent people to victimize.  Police and communities identify these criminals as hooligans and gangsters.  This is the identifying markers of those that have lost their self-worth, or they are in an identity crisis.  They need Jesus.

I believe they want to feel wanted but feel rejected by society for a variety of reasons in their thinking.  They struggle to be part of something, because they lack self-confidence and the security of belonging.

The above thoughts may not apply to all individuals.  A recluse type of personality may live with other issues that they too struggle with, regarding their identity.

Some people join clubs or church organizations to experience fellowship and feel a part of something real.  Others search for some kind of identity through the lives of iconic figures that they have placed on a pedestal, wanting to relate and be like them.

When I was living a non-Christian life, my identity ran a close parallel with the people I hung with.  When I peered at myself in the mirror, the reality of my sorry life would hit home.  I saw a face of despair with eyes longing for a new identity that would leave me with positive thoughts at the end of the day rather than, “Is this all there is to life?”

It is heartbreaking when I look into the faces of souls that are searching for something tangible and see sadness everywhere I turn.  I wonder, are they searching for peace?  Are they hoping to find a reason to keep living?  Have they lost their identity, because of harassment and being bullied at school, or are they being rejected by family members, or do they need a friend?  They need to hear that Jesus is the only answer for their search.

All the above searchers need Jesus to bring answers to the anxieties surrounding them.  He is the answer to every person’s need, no matter how great or small the need, Jesus is the answer.  For this reason, Christians must share the good news that He is the Way.

There are a multitude of reasons why people lose self-worth or go through an identity crisis.  Perhaps they lost their identity because they took their eyes off worthwhile goals, while walking away from stability or security of some kind—marriage, college, church, job, or family.

Growing old can also have lasting effects on a person’s psyche, causing them to lose sight of their identity.  It is easy to lose one’s identity when the devil is always putting them down or pointing out their flaws and failures.  Abusive relationships where a person badmouths or abuses a person physically or psychologically can affect identity.

No-one needs to give power of any kind to things or supremacy to anyone that brings them to tears, reducing them to a level of not knowing themselves.  People or things do not have to steal a person’s identity, dignity, personality, or how they feel about themselves when they plug into a “new identity” through Christ Jesus.

The Lord gives hope; He gives reasons for living; and He gives a lasting feeling of security and belonging when desperate people reach out to God for help.  The moment a repentant heart asks Jesus to be their friend and Savior, instantly as that breath leaves a person’s mouth, God forgives their sins when they ask Him.  Help is a breath away.

Trust me when I say, God loves you with a never-ending love and wants peace of mind for you if you are looking for peace.  Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  Nothing is more important to God than our well-being, joy in living, and becoming His child.

God loves everyone with agape love.  He desires that all humanity have a reason for living.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  He is the reason for my new identity.  He saved me!  I am somebody now that I am God’s son.  My identity is in Him.  Nothing can take that away from me; nothing and no-one.

(Romans 8:31-35), “What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?” (vs 32) “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (vs 33) “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?  It is God who justifies.” (vs 34) “Who is he who condemns?  It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” (vs 35) “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”

(Romans 8:37-39), “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (vs 38) “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,” (vs 39) “nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Written by,

Papa Boyd

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