identity

Some time ago I met a lady at work, and the first thing she started informing me was she was the best one, on our shift, doing the job. She wanted me to know that her “rate per hour” never dipped below 500, and even on the day she poked herself in the eye she maintained her excellence. For reference, the average rate per hour is around 270. I must confess, her boasting was a turn off. Later I thought, if you are that great at your job then why haven’t I heard about you from others?

The second time I encountered this same woman she was bragging to some other coworkers, in the break room, of her greatness in doing her job. The third time I crossed her path she was wearing a shirt that proclaimed, “The Boss”. The very next day she wore a T-shirt stating, “World’s Best Mom”.

It got me to thinking, perhaps she is extremely insecure in who she truly is, and tries to command respect by telling everyone who she wants to be?

After thinking about this for a while I heard in my mind a question Jesus once asked;

“But you—who do you say that I am?” Jesus asked.
Mat. 16:15 (TPT)

Jesus knew who he was, and didn’t go bragging about it to anyone, or ware a tunic stating it. In fact, God declared who Jesus was when he rose up from the water after being baptized. God said, “This is my Son, whom I am well pleased.”

It’s important to know who Jesus is. He’s a healer, a brother that never leaves you, a calming source in any storm, but most important, he’s a savior whose death on the cross saves your soul from hell, if you accept who he is and ask him to forgive you for your sins, wrong doing. Your eternal life depends on this because one day you will stand before Jesus, and He will ask you, “Who do you say I am?”

WIYTGIG 1 I have a theory that human spirits are in heaven, with God, and then, the moment a child is conceived a human spirit is installed. It’s just a thought, okay? One reason I believe this is I was in a grocery store and I saw a small child in their mother’s arms. When the child saw me I smiled, and without hesitation the child tried to leap out of the arms of their mother into mine. The child’s spirit wanted to be reunited with God’s Spirit, which dwells in me.

the child saw God

I didn’t encourage the child at all. I simply smiled. I have thought about that moment and I came to realize the child sensed God’s Spirit within me. That led to the question, “how did the child know God?”

I have been reading “Translating God” by Shawn Bolz. He talks about seeing people as the original version of them God intended. This will help you relate to them better when you begin to see them as God does.

So what happens then? How do we get so off course from being the image of God he designed? Life, temptation, sin, and free will. Those are the things that steal our true identity. I know a man, who had a dream about his son before he was ever born. In the dream he got his name and his destiny from God. Sure enough a son was born, but today that son is not living a life anything close to what God intended. The man continues to love his son anyway, and continues to pray for him, and believe that one day the real version will emerge, and his son will be a mighty, spiritual warrior.

It’s like when we are born, our life is perfect, and wrinkled free. Then, as life happens we get wrinkled, but the moment we accept Jesus we go to the cleaners and there, the Holy Spirit, as steam, gets all of the wrinkles out. He restores us to our original design, and purpose. Yes, it takes discipleship, healing of the heart, and spending a lot of time with God getting to know him fully and his nature, but it can be done.

Jeremiah 1:5 (The Message)

“Before I shaped you in the womb,
I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day,
I had holy plans for you:
A prophet to the nations—
that’s what I had in mind for you.”

I encourage you to be hungry to be the person God intended you to be. Ask God to show you his plan, design, and purpose for your life. Then, I encourage you to live it. If you choose to do this you will never be happier!