Identity – A Journey of Redefinition

by Lise Lavender

Identity  –  A Journey of Redefinition

Introduction to the journey.

Who am I?  How do you define yourself?  When you meet someone, who do you say you are?  Do you define yourself by your job?  Title?  Mother?  Father?  What happens if you lose your job?  Lose your title?  What happens if you suffer such a tragedy that all such labels are removed from your life?  Who are you then?   We need an identity that cannot change.  Ever.  No matter what.

Let us wrap up ‘Who am I?’ for a while.  Let us pack it away in a locked box and place it under the brick wall where we can’t get at it until we demolish the brick wall.  This is a wall that we have built ourselves over the years to define ourselves.  It will be different for each of us.  For some of us it is a wall that we have built to protect ourselves.  This isn’t an easy journey; however, let us keep our eyes fixed on the One who walks with us and is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.

New question:  Whose am I?   Not a question, as much as a statement.  A statement-question!   Do you see where we are going?   To put some flesh on this statement-question, we must know the Whose.  One way to answer this is by saying “I am my Father’s daughter.”  What does that mean?  I am my Father’s daughter.   I am my Father’s son.  We know that our Father is God Almighty.   What does it mean to be my Father’s daughter; to be my Father’s son?  We must know who our Father is and who He says we are.

When I say I am my Father’s daughter I am saying that there is a resemblance of my Father in me.  I have some similarities with my Father.  I do something or act a certain way and someone asks me, “why did you do that?”  My answer,  “I am my Father’s daughter!  Why are you surprised at what I did?”  Can you feel the amazement inside …  “After all, I am my Father’s daughter.  Why should that surprise you?”   Let our lives reflect our Father’s glory.

Ephesians 3:14-21

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.