This week’s devotions are based on Week 1 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
The question of “who are you” perhaps is one that people of all eras, nationalities and culture have asked at some point in history. In America, in recent years, the question of identity has become more pronounced as heated discussions can ensue around gender identity, racial identity or political identity. While individuals have to answer this for themselves, we find ourselves having identity imposed on us as individuals are lumped into groups, or suggestions are given that might lead someone to question their identity.
So where do you find your identity? What shapes your answer to “Who are you?” Rightly so, there are many factors that come by nature or nurture that may come into play in answering this question, but in the end who gets the final say in your mind as to who you believe you are?
Will it be someone from your childhood that said you would never amount to anything?
Will it be a teacher who believed you had unlimited potential?
Will it be the media that puts your demographic in a lump sized identity?
Will it be your first boss who fired you for underperforming?
Many voices and situations can cause us to question our identity or make us overconfident in our identity.
I appreciate art and literature, but there was always something frustrating about studying both. Often the professor would ask, “What do you think the artist was trying to convey?” or “What was the author trying to communicate?” As we went around the class, there were as many opinions as there were students. Inside I was thinking, “The only way we are going to know for sure is to ask the artist or read what the artist wrote about his piece of art or what the author intended to communicate.”
While identity can be a fluid thing in our society, why don’t we just ask the one who made us? Why don’t we ask the Creator of the universe what our identity is to be and the purpose for which he made us?
When I understand it straight from the one who formed me and died on the cross for me, I have a much more stable sense of self and identity than any news pundit, well-meaning parent, or bottom-line driven boss. I will have a deep sense of who I am which then will communicate what I am to do. Identity informs our activity.
The book of Ephesians is written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit by the Apostle Paul. He was one who was finding his identity in his religious effort and zeal to eliminate followers of Christ until Christ himself changed his heart and perspective and gave him not just a task, but a new identity that was wrapped in the grace of God and the peace he had through Jesus Christ. It gave him a new perspective on the people to whom he wrote as he saw them as saints and faithful believers in Jesus. Like Jesus no longer saw him as the identity of sinner, he saw them as Jesus saw him, “a saint.”
As we journey through the book of Ephesians, I pray that we begin to see all that God has done for us to create in us an identity that settles our soul with a peace only Jesus can give and is lavished in the grace that God loves to give.
Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Apply: When you consider the question, “Who am I?” what answer do you give and what has influenced that answer?
Prayer: Thank you for loving me to call me your child and give me an identity and purpose that is rooted in you! AMEN.