The Purposeful ParentSample

The Who – The Real You

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

- 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

We are the most critical ingredient in our purpose. Because of this, we need to make sure that we have a good understanding of who we are. We must know that we are not the title we hold in our family, at work, or in the church. We are more than that. 

When we base our entire identity on titles, we are more susceptible to traps. The titles we hold in our lives are not necessarily bad—it’s great to be a parent, employee or employer, and to be a volunteer at your church. But when we define who we are by our roles, we will fall for the traps of performance and other people’s opinions.

The Performance Trap

The world has taught us that our identity is found in our performance, but this is often the biggest lie we fall for. When we depend on our performance to determine our identity, we are setting ourselves up for failure. We will be on an unhealthy roller coaster of emotions because NONE OF US ARE PERFECT. If our identity is found in our performance, we will feel "less than" when we mess up. 

I have struggled with this in the past. It almost kept me from writing my first book and this devotional. In the past, there were times that I know I should have stepped out and done certain things; I didn't because I didn't think I could measure up. 

My identity is not found in being perfect—it is found in Jesus Christ!

The Trap of Caring Too Much About Other People’s Opinions 

When we allow the opinions of others to define how we see ourselves, we give those people more power than they should have. We let their perspective affect how we act because we want them to think highly of us. We want them to think highly of us because we think that it will help our identity; in reality, it has nothing to do with it. God's approval is the only approval we should seek.

I am not saying that other people's opinions shouldn't matter at all...We’d better care what our spouse and children think about us. However, we can't do everything just for their approval. We will wear ourselves out.

God's Perception of You

Here are some verses to chew on:

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalm 139:13-14 NIV

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8 NIV

You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are so valuable to God that He gave His ONLY Son up just for you. He didn't even have a guarantee that you would love Him in return, but God did it anyway. 

You don't have to look at your performance or other people's opinions of you to determine who you are. Jesus did everything to settle our identity with God, so that takes care of the performance. When He did that, we were made right with God. Those actions show what He thinks of you because He saw that you were worth the sacrifice. 

Devon D. Daniel