BORN IDENTITY

“Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” Gen1:26-27

 The dictionary defines the word identity as the fact of being, who or what a person or thing is. The sense of who one is, selfhood.

Your identity is who you are. There are several words that are you used to describe identity. Words like self-worth, self-image.

Your identity determines how you behave, what you do and what you don’t do. Your identity is who you see yourself to be and how you see yourself to be.

 Genesis1:26 & 27 tells us that God made us in His image and in His likeness. He made us to be like Him and to derive our identity from Him.

 We were never designed to get our identity and self-worth from anybody or anything else but God. We were never designed to get our self-worth from what we do or don’t do. We were never designed to get our self-worth from other people including parents, spouses, friends etc.

Only God is our true source of identity, self-worth, self-image and value. Only in Him were we designed to find out who we are.

In the day that Adam and Eve stopped deriving their identity and self-worth from God and tried to get it elsewhere everything in their life fell apart. They lost their sense of righteousness, love, peace, joy and confidence toward God.

Instead they became afraid and given to fear, hatred came in, manipulation, low self-worth, self-righteousness, religion and so forth.

This is everyone’s problem. All of us battle with this issue of identity and self-worth everyday of our lives. Everyday we are trying to get our self-worth, identity and sel-image from someone or something besides God.

For some it is religion and self-righteousness.

We pray, fast, read the bible, do spiritual warfare, give, live a holy life so that we can be accepted by God and so that we can feel valuable and worthy. We feel worthless when we don’t perform as well as we want to.

For some it is work.

We do ministry in the church, in a fellowship, cell or any other institution. We do all kinds of Christian service. Others go to a job and work hard. Others go to a business and work hard. We feel useless and worthless if we are not doing these things.

For some it is other people.

We relate with other people in a way that makes us feel good, valuable, worthy and loved. We depend on other people to make us feel what only God can make us feel. Valuable and worthy. This is called co-dependence and many of us are very codependent.

Co-dependence is simply depending on someone or something outside of God to get what only God can provide.

We manipulate, control, force, threaten and blackmail others to make us feel valuable. We do this with our wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, parents, children, friends etc. what most of us call love today is simply and purely co-dependence. It is about how valuable and worthy others make us feel and how they meet our needs and reinforce our insecurities.

Pastors and ministers manipulate, threaten, force, and cajole the people they minister to so that they can feel important about themselves and their ministries. Most of the abuses in ministry are based on codependent ministers and codependent congregations.

 Many of us live our lives trying to fulfill the expectations of other people and trying to get others to fulfill our expectations of them. we allow others to manipulate and control us thinking that we are loving them by fulfilling their expectations and bending over backwards for them and trying to meet their needs. Married people do this, dating people do this, friends do this, ministers and their congregations do this. Jesus was not like this

 “I receive not honour from men.” John5:41 KJV

“I receive not glory from men [I crave no human honor, I look for no mortal fame]” AMP

“Your approval or disapproval means nothing to me” NLT

“I’m not interested in crowd approval” MSG

In other words he was saying to them "I can’t tell you how much I don’t care”

 Jesus was plainly saying to these people that He didn’t care what they thought of Him or what He said. He didn’t need their approval or endorsement for what He said or did. His worth wasn’t based on other people. He knew that God approved of Him and that is all that mattered to Him.

Paul repeated this same theme to the Corinthians.

 1Corinthians4

1 Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God. 6 Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other. 7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

Only God’s opinion matters.

 For some it is the pursuit of pleasure.

Many people have based their entire life on having fun, going out, sports, entertainment, addictions etc. people try whatever they can to feel good and have pleasure.

 The only way we will live in our God given capacity and ability is by deriving our identity from God. until you get to where God is your source of identity, self-worth and self-image you will never operate at your best and be fulfilled in life and feel valuable. You will always feel that there is something lacking.