Identity
Who are you? How would describe or define yourself?
In a word full of information, people seem to be becoming
less and less aware of who they are. We know everything about every celebrity,
but I don’t know who I am.
You know what I finally realized…I just want to be me. I
don’t have to try and fit in. Who I am is not found in the clothes I wear or
the sports I play or the grades I achieve. In fact as a Christian, my identity
is found in one place, and that is Christ. I hope you guys understand that as a
fully devoted follower of Christ, like you have standing before you right now
and like I hope each of you are becoming more and more each week, that I’m not
a man who goes to church. I’m a Christian who also has the joy of being a
husband, a friend, a father, a youth minister. Like a giant tree, all these
characteristics of who I am are branches that are defined by the prevailing
trunk of my identity that is found in my relationship with Christ.
This is why we see Peter, a fisherman, husband, business
man, and son, drop everything in his life, all that he knows, and follow
Christ. Because Peter is not identified in his job or his personality or his
relationship with others…he is defined Christ, and by following him.
Matthew 16:24-27
“If any man will come after me…”
We
must make a choice to follow Christ! Some choices are good, some bad; some
easy, some hard; some inconsequential, some eternal in implication!
“Let him deny himself…”
1. Not just a denial OF self, but denial TO
self – from self to Christ!
2. We are solider of Christ – and a good
solider doesn’t think of saving self, but of winning the battle! And the battle
being waged is one for the souls of man, both yours and your friends.
“take up his
cross and follow me”
In
Roman culture, to take up your cross was a declaration to the general public
that, “here I am in complete submission to the Roman authorities.” That my
will, my desires no longer matter because Rome has complete authority over my
life. Of course, a criminal taking up his cross does so by force. Christ is
commanding us to do so voluntarily, to declare “here I am in complete
submission to God.” That my will, my desires no longer matter because Christ
has complete authority over my life.
“Follow me” means we walk as He walked; talk
as He talked; live as He lived; do as He did; serve
as He served; love as He loved!
And
in finding your identity in Christ, you will discover the true nature of the strength
and beauty that He created in you.
In Christ,
we have the identity of Deity. But who am I? As a Christian, who am I? I am his
ambassador, a reflection of His Grace, a road sign directing others to the Way,
a part of His body, part of the fellowship of the redeemed, a Child of God. Who
am I? I am His, and that fact defines every other part of my life. Do you know
who you are?
Spend a
moment talking with God about where you are in your choice to Follow Him in
Radical Surrender.
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