Living Out Loud with Darian

Who Am I? Why Am I Here? Why do I need to answer this question at all?

Who am I? This is the question that was posed at the end of last weeks post. It’s not an easy question for any of us to answer because there is no concrete answer. As we evolve as people the answer will also evolve. While it is a challenging question to answer, understanding your identity can be the difference between abundant life and a pitiful existence on earth chasing after things that only sustain us temporarily ultimately leading us to nowhere very quickly.

One reader suggested that identity has to be examined from three perspectives. How God identifies us, how we identify ourselves and how others identify us. It will come as no surprise that my opinion on these three perspectives is this: The one that holds the most weight is how God identifies us. If we can discover how God sees us, His identify becomes the foundation for how we view ourselves and hopefully how others see us.

To begin answering this question I would like to share with you a very familiar portion of scripture.

Genesis 3:1-6 1Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2And the women said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it; neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die. 5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good from evil. 6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did not eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

What does this story have to do with understanding identity? The answer is everything. The serpent tempted Eve with a few things. He tempted her with how good the fruit looked and how good it had to taste seeing that it looked so good. (God knows we’ve all given into something or someone that looked good whether it was good for us or not.) More importantly he was able to tempt her with the promise that eating from this tree would make her like God. Here is the ignorance of Adam and Eve. Everything that the serpent was offering they already were. How do we know this? Genesis 1:26 says, “And God said let us make man in our own image after our likeness…” The first key to unlocking our identity as defined by God is found in this scripture.

You and I are created in the image of God. We are a direct reflection of who God is. Everything that God is can be found in us. I don’t know about you, but the thought that the creator of heaven and earth created me as a direct reflection of Him is way past what my limited mind can really grasp. If we only define ourselves by our name, our sex, our occupation, our sexual orientation, and how much we have, we negate God in us. Without this knowledge the other stuff has little importance. John 4:24 tells us that God is a spirit. If we are created in His image, then we too are spirit first and foremost.

We will stop right there for this week but I would like to encourage everyone who reads this post to examine themselves this week. Take an account of the things that hold a significant place in your life. Does it build your spirit or does it destroy your spirit?

As always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts by comment, email or myspace. Have a Blessed Resurrection Sunday.

Reconciling Your Spirituality with Your Sexuality:
1st Entry
2nd Entry

Albert on myspace
Email:albertrlee@hotmail.com

Labels: Spirituality