The Issue Is Identity

The Issue Is Identity…

When I forget who I am in Christ, I quit pursuing what belongs to me in Christ.

“For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.” (2 Peter 1:8-9 ESV)

Peter is saying that there’s a widespread identity issue in the body of Christ. We forget who we are. We forget what we’ve been given in Christ and identity amnesia always leads to identity replacement.

If I’m not getting my identity vertically, then I’m going to get it horizontally.

You can’t turn your relationships into your own personal messiah. You can’t turn your job into your own personal messiah. You can’t turn your children or your parenting into your own personal messiah. You can’t turn your possessions into your own personal messiah.

Those things are experiences. They are gifts from God but they’re never meant to be my identity and when they become my identity, they will always leave us empty.