IDENTITY CRISIS
Praise God for this day! I feel today will be a great day. Today I want to discuss the importance of identity because that seems to be the secret problem affecting the way many people live their lives. People’s lives have been defined by the things they wear, the kind of friends they have, the kind of car they drive, and the kind of money in their bank account. Once those things are no more there, they feel like a nobody. But no external thing should define who we are. Likewise, many Christians don’t actually believe that they are children of God even when they say it verbal. Identity has a great role to play in how we think of ourselves because it evidently shapes our thoughts and actions. The scripture says, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).
If you have ever watched the animated film “Ice Age II”, there was a female mammoth that had an identity crisis because she was born and brought up by possums. Mammoths are like large elephants with very big tusks (they are now extinct), and possums are small creatures that look like rats in shape and size. In this movie, as big as the mammoth was, she was afraid of an eagle just because she thought she was a possum. A person suffering from identity crisis will always think and act differently from how they ought to, and in most cases it is always in a negative light.
When we look through the scriptures, we will find out that this problem of identity crisis has always been an issue since the creation of mankind, as this was the devil’s attack strategy against Eve. The devil told her she was not like God and needed to eat a fruit from the forbidden tree in order to be like God. Yet God created mankind in His very image and likeness. The scripture says, “God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion…” (Genesis 1:26). But the devil said to Eve, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5).
This is the same thread of attack we see throughout the scriptures. We see it used against Gideon. God called Gideon a mighty man of valour (Judges 6:12), but Gideon was considering his past and present to determine his future, thereby forming a wrong identity of himself. Gideon saw himself as the poorest from the least family in all of Israel. What we must understand is that God does not call or treat us by our past or present reality but by who He has made us in Him. That was why He called Abraham the father of many nations even when he had no child. This is why many Christians don’t understand that when they sincerely ask for forgiveness after making a mistake, God sees them as righteous and clean. But many Christians still feel unclean before God, and that is part of the devil’s lies. Whenever you don’t know and truly believe in who you are, you become whoever people call you.
What God did was to help Gideon believe in himself so He could use him. I believe God is using this message to do the same in your life today because you are better than how you see yourself. So stop believing the devil’s lies and the labels he placed on you based on your past and present circumstances. Instead, believe that you are the beloved child of the Living God. God loved you even when you were still a sinner — how much more now that you are His child! The scripture says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
The greatest fear of the devil regarding you is that you never discover who you really are in Christ, because that is the only way he can keep ruling and oppressing one. As long as Christians embrace his lies, they will only live like mere men. The scripture says, “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes” (Psalms 82:6-7).
Also, the fact that many people have identity crisis is the major reason the devil has been able to offer many people cheap money and worldly goods in exchange for their destinies, and they accept it because they don’t realize that being with God means owning the universe and everything in it. If Jesus didn’t know who He was, He would have fallen for the devil’s offer of the whole world in echange for His worship. The scripture says, “the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:8-9).
In the other two temptations against Jesus, the devil asked Him twice if He was sure He was the Son of God, but Jesus overcame him because He was confident of His identity (Matthew 4:1-10). That is the kind of confidence we need about our identity in order to put the devil out of our lives because he has overstayed his time. Our confidence in our identity must not be shaken by circumstances because the devil will keep trying to make us doubt who we are by bringing up our past, but our identity is not determined by our experiences in lfe, but by what God has said regarding us. Your experiences can only change who you are if you accommodate and accept them as your reality.
The way you can easily overcome an identity crisis is to continuously confess to yourself and others who you believe you are in Christ. That was what Jesus did and what the Apostles did. There was a time in the scriptures when Jesus had just finished praying. The next thing He asked His disciples was what people thought of Him. They all said that everyone thought of Him as one of the Old Testament prophets. But Jesus then asked for their own personal opinion. Peter answered and said He was the “Son of the Living God.” We see here that there was a general public view of who Jesus was which was wrong, but what mattered to Jesus was that His disciples personally believed who He is and who we are in Him. Despite all Jesus’ miracles, the Pharisees didn’t believe in Him even when He plainly told them He was the Son of God, but that didn’t stop Him from continually saying it. So it is what you believe about yourself that really matters and not what people believe. If people don’t believe in you presently, they will one day believe in you if you maintain your confession about yourself. You can’t expect others to believe in you when you don’t first believe in yourself.
Also, when you see Paul’s letters in the New Testament, he always started them by saying who he was — not with pride but to reiterate it to himself. Nevertheless, your greatest proof to the world of who you are is seen in your actions and works. Have a blessed day!
Today’s Reading:
Matthew 16, Luke 4:1-13, Proverbs 30---
Nevertheless, if you are not born again you can do so today by saying this simple prayer below out with your mouth in faith, believing that Jesus Christ died and rose again for your sins.
Prayer for Salvation
Dear Lord, I believe Jesus died and rose again for me. Forgive me my sins and come into my life. I confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. Thank you Father for doing this for me. Reveal yourself to me today. In Jesus name, Amen.
Congrats, your status has changed to that of a child of God, if you said this prayer in faith.