Every minute, 19 people have their identity stolen. Identity theft means someone takes your identity away from you without your knowledge and uses it for their own devious purposes. Most often, it is a way for that person to benefit financially at your expense.
A few years ago, I was a victim of identity theft in the Amsterdam airport on my way to teach a retreat for some leaders in Central Asia. YOU have also experienced identity theft.
In Genesis 3, all humans had their identity stolen by Satan. Our identity was far more valuable than billions of dollars. The identity God had given mankind was stolen from our original parents, Adam and Eve.
We have all been searching to recover identity ever since. Where do we look to try to find it? Parents, friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, sex, jobs, performance, religion, appearance, past successes, failures, opinions of others, clothes, money and to many other sources. The problem is that none of those can adequately define us. If we let any of those define us, we are living with a false identity. What we need is an identity that we can not mess up and no one can take away.
Jesus Christ came to give us back our identity. In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that his problem is that he has the wrong identity and needs a new one. That is what Jesus meant when He said to him and to all of us, "You must be born again."
Through our faith in Christ, we have been given a new identity! We are sons and daughters of God who are righteous, holy, alive, givers, forgivers, beloved and so much more. God does not just pretend to see us this way. And God does not just see Jesus in us. He sees us for who we are in Christ.
1 John 3:1 says, "What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it--we are called children of God! That is who we really are. But that is also why the world does not recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who He is or what He is up to." (MSG)
Let go of all of the messages you believed to define your false identity and embrace who your Heavenly Father says you are. At the end of the day, only His opinion counts. Why don't you take some time to pray and tell God that you have been searching for your identity all of your life. Ask Him to show you the source of the false identity you have been living from. Then make a choice to accept Him as your Source for your identity in Christ even if you don't "feel" the truth of this.
If you have never attended our Grace Life Conference where we explain this from Scripture very clearly, I urge you to attend. If you cannot attend a live Conference, we have it on DVD's and CD's that includes the Conference workbook. Simply contact our office at 704-522-9026 and we will be happy to assist you.
Live Free In Christ,
Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com
All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding
