Who am I?
I am Paul. I'm a husband to Mel, a father to Eva and Thea, a pastor, a coffee drinker, and a trail runner.
How would you introduce yourself if you were meeting someone for the first time?
Often, our identity becomes wrapped up in what we do and how well we do it. Our sense of worth is tied to our performance.
So when we're succeeding at work, achieving goals, and receiving recognition, we feel good about ourselves. But when we fail, struggle, or fall short of expectations, our sense of worth begins to unravel.
Because when your identity is built on performance, your value rises and falls with your success.
Yesterday, Tim, Andrew, and I attended an Apprentice Training Day in Christchurch. The theme was our identity in Christ. I was reminded that my identity is not something I must achieve; it is something God has graciously given me in Christ.
One passage that drove this home was Ephesians 1:3–8:
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ..."
The repeated refrain throughout the passage is that we have been blessed, chosen, adopted, redeemed, and shown grace, all in Christ. Our identity is not self-made; it is God's work through Jesus.
Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:17:
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"
What a glorious reality. We are not defined by our performance or our failures. We are children of the living God; loved, secure, and held by him.
So, who are you?
J. I. Packer answered that question by reminding himself of six truths each day:
I am a child of God.
God is my Father.
Heaven is my home.
Every day is one day nearer.
My Saviour is my brother.
Every Christian is my brother and sister too.
Do you truly grasp your identity in Christ? Do you treasure who God has saved you to be?
I know for myself I need to remind myself of this each day, knowing that my successes and failures they don’t define me but God’s grace shown to me in Jesus does.
And because of Christ – God looks at me today and every day and says, with you I am well pleased.
Resting in Christ,
Paul