What Is Identity?
By identity, I mean how God designed you. Your gifts, strengths, personality, and every other trait that makes you unique. Who you are is key to deciding what you do and why you do it. Think about David and Goliath. When David showed up, everyone was cowering in fear, but David knew who he was and was willing to act knowing he was God’s man in that moment. When Saul offered David to use his armor, David found it was ill-fitting and decided to go with what he knew fit him: a slingshot and five stones. He was clear about his who, what, and why. If he had tried to go to battle in Saul’s armor, he might not have succeeded.
Let’s Unpack This
Having an identity gap will impact how you show up at work. Initially, it can feel uncomfortable showing up as a Christ-follower, which is your real self, when you’ve been used to living with certain expectations from others or for yourself. Living this way takes a lot of energy, and eventually the dissonance will wear you down. It’s also not unusual to feel like a fraud and wonder, what will people think of me when they are used to me showing up as the ‘old’ me?
I recall when I was employed for a Fortune 500 company. I was intentional to show up each day reminding myself that God had me in that organization, performing my specific job, with the team I interacted with on a daily basis, for a specific reason. Sometimes, however, I became so focused on the job or fitting in, that the “aroma of Jesus” was lost in my work life.
And this brings me to the last point I’ve observed: the identity gap prevents us from acting on what God has given us as a mission. This is your what.
Remember when God called Moses, he gave a lot of reasons why he wasn’t qualified. I think if we truly understand our identity as God sees us, we initially might have the same response of Moses. But … But … But … And list the reasons why we feel we aren’t qualified. That’s the identity gap.
What was God’s response to Moses? “What is in your hand?” And it is the same with us.
And don’t forget Jesus’s identity statement when He was baptized. In Matthew 3:17, the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Satan challenged this when tempting Jesus in the wilderness when he said, “If you are the Son of God.” If the devil was at work to get Jesus to doubt his identity, you can be sure he is at work on you and I to get us confused about or doubt our identity.
How About You
If you are having trouble identifying or embracing your identity, begin with God. What I mean by that is to every day become aware enough of who God is so you can live from a confident place at home, work, and in community. Here’s an example of a Personal Theology statement I use based on the work from Daniel Henderson’s book, The Deeper Life. Remember, your identity is tied to the bigger story God is telling in the world.
Once you have a clear view of God, move to discern who God made you. Figure out your strengths, personality, and gifts. Here’s a link to some resources that can help you with this. Offer strengths, gifts, and talents to God to use you in your work, infused by the Holy Spirit. When you do this people will notice as you resonate as your true self. This aligns you to God’s bigger story and will give you an opportunity to begin to share how your faith is a critical part of who you are and how it empowers you.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash; In-Text Photo by Min An on Pexels
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