Last fall Campus Christian Fellowship had their annual fall retreat and the theme was, What Really Matters focused on Philippians. Upon reviewing the notes I took at it, one of the lessons came to me again; what do we find our identity in?
One of the main ideas of the lesson was the fact that we often have confidence in who we are rather than whose we are. That we are often more excited about things we’re doing rather than who we are doing it for (God).
Too often I get consumed by how I want the world to view me rather than how I want God to view me. My identity gets wrapped up in things such as identifying as a Ripon College Student, “the do-gooder,” and a tennis player. And even though these are not bad things, they can become negative if I want my focus to be in these titles of the world rather than God.
Being a Christ follower should mean wanting to do good works but if we put our identity in being know as a good deed giver over a child of God, Satan has then succeeded in distorting our understanding of meaningful identity.
Doing anything not for Christ is a loss, a total waste of time, meaningless. Because even though John 15:5 says “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing,” I’ve learned over the years that a person can indeed do much in our own power without God but the verse means that apart from Christ the tasks or good deeds you are accomplishing are not of any worth.
Take a moment to think about what you have been proud to identity as and know that being a Christ follower needs to be the identity you categorize yourself as first. It's definitely not easy because we tend to take great pride in our worldly identities and it is good to be proud of them but they shouldn’t be the focus. Are you consumed by being any of the following:
1. A Dancer
2. A Student
3. A Club Member
4. A Team leader
5. An Athlete
6. A Computer Wiz
7. A Friend/Relationship
8. A Musician
9. Your Job
10. A Talent
Are you giving yourself a higher sense of accomplishment with your worldly identity or your identity in Christ because I promise Christ matters more.
So what are you trying to put your identity in that isn’t Christ? What is it that you are trying to gain that you must lose in order to take up Christ?
