“If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” Matthew 10:39 NLT

“YOU” ARE HIDDEN IN CHRIST

Who would you be without any fear, anxiety, addictions, anger, etc.? You’d probably find yourself to be a whole other person that you wouldn’t even recognize as yourself. 

There are things in our lives we feel are apart of who we are when in reality they are just there because of the experiences we’ve had in our lives.

I believe the enemy is out to kill our identities before we are even aware of it, so he uses people and situations to cause events that will bring on trauma. As a result of any negative experiences or trauma, on comes the anger, depression, fear, rejection, and more. Whether the events are big or small, they can still cause major damage to how we see ourselves.

When you are outside of Christ there is no way of truly breaking free from these bondages. I would go as far as to say that some who are outside of Christ don’t even know those bondages are there. I for one did not know I was bound until I came in contact with the light of Christ. 

“Whoever has the Son has life, whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.” 1 John 5:12 

Christ came to give us life, freedom, and deliverance from our bondage.

When we begin to break free from what we’ve always known, it seems like we’re turning into a whole new person. This change can be uncomfortable for you and for those around you. But what if you’re just becoming the person God intended you to be from the beginning? What if he’s just putting the pieces back together that he had first made in your mother’s womb? The pieces that were there before the enemy came and tried to take them away and replace them with all of those negative things. What if the new you is actually the old you that is only new to you, but who God has always known? After all, the word restoration essentially means to return something to a former owner, place, or condition. God is not making something completely brand new out of you, he’s returning you back to your first condition. He’s putting you back into his design. 

“Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people.” 1 Peter 2:10

You have no identity or life outside of Christ because without him you are just living as the person the enemy has distorted you to be which is not really “you”. You’ll find yourself trying to fit in places you don’t belong and trying to find your identity in people, money, things, or jobs.

So what do we do about this identity complex?

Lose ourselves so we can find ourselves. 

The bible tells us that when we sacrifice our lives for Christ and are willing to die to ourselves and our former nature, we will then essentially find our true life in Christ. That means we need to seek him in order to find it.

What is our identity?

A child of God.

Good news is there’s nothing you can do to obtain this. You already are that. For example, in Luke 15, there was a son who left with his inheritance and spent it on sinful living. But, the whole time he was outside of his father’s house he was still called a son, and his father was still his father. Then in the end when his father welcomes him back with open arms, the bible says that the son had come back to his senses. He came to himself. The person he was out in the world wasn’t really him.

Isn’t it amazing that even when we have no clue about our true identities, God still calls us his child? All we have to do is come back to our senses and run back to our father. But let me just say, that’s the easy part. The hard part is looking past all of our rejection, pain, and hurt, to come into agreement with God about our identities. It’s hard to comprehend that after everything, God accepts you as his son or daughter right away. Period. But, it’s true. You don’t have to work to become apart of God’s family. There are no steps to becoming a son/daughter of God. The only difference between someone who walks confidently in this identity and someone who doesn’t is that the person who knows their identity has come into agreement with what God says. They have no question about who they are, and they walk in that stance. They pray from that stance, and they serve from that stance. They know that identity or purpose doesn’t come from what they do, but rather who they are.

“Truly, deep within my true identity, I love to do what pleases God.” Romans 7:22 TPT

Your true identity loves to please God. That person loves to worship, loves to read the bible, and do what is good. Not because they have to do it, but because they want to. You don’t have to force yourself to spend time with someone you love. identity causes you to enjoy intimacy with God. 

Now you see why we can not be ourselves without Christ. If your true identity loves to please God, then anything other than that is a false or misplaced identity. 

The world labels you by what you do, but God tells you who you are. Then, what you do flows from that position. You won’t be looking for acceptance or gratification in any other things except God. You won’t be looking to “do”, you’ll just “be”. 

Seek God and allow Him to restore you. To deliver you, and to heal you. Allow him to put you back to your original design. As He starts to peel these layers back, you’ll start to feel more confident in who you are as a son/daughter of God. Shame will no longer distort your identity. Rejection will no longer tell you who you are. You will start to see through a cleaner lense, and see who God really intended you to be. 

“So if my behavior contradicts my desires to do good, I must conclude that it’s not my true identity doing it, but the unwelcome intruder of sin hindering me from being who I really am.” Romans 7:20 TPT