Why Identity Matters

Think about who you are for a minute. Who gets to say that you are valuable? Who convinces you of the role you play in the world? Who determines what you believe and how you live? Your answers to these questions point to your identity.

Whether you want it to or not, your identity will rule your life; it will influence your beliefs, decisions, and actions, drive your sense of purpose, help determine your value, and add meaning to your life by showing you your roles and responsibilities and pointing the way to fulfilling those.

What you have built your identity on is evidenced by what is most important to you. If your identity is based on your economic status and the stock market crashes or you lose your job, what will that say about who you are? Will your identity shatter and your value plummet because you have less money in your bank account? If someone tells you that you’re not good enough or criticizes you will that wreck you emotionally or impact your self-esteem or self-worth?

When you aren’t consciously aware of who you are and why it matters, your foundation will be easily shaken. You’ll find yourself easily thrown off balance and into preventable crises, living for other people and letting them determine how your life plays out.

You have the choice to build your identity on one of three things: yourself (a modern identity), your community (a traditional identity), or your God (a divine identity). Only an identity built on the rock of God can stabilize your life and fulfill His purposes through you.

Here is your true identity:

You are made in God’s image

You are His unique workmanship

You are a child of God and an heir to the Kingdom

You are beloved, chosen and accepted

You are forgiven, freed from sin and saved to have eternal life

You are a saint and citizen of heaven

God has a unique plan and purpose for your life

When you build your identity on God and take ownership of your callings including the roles and responsibilities He has designated for you, you’ll impact the lives of other people for good and God can use you to change lives and change the world. This is what gives your life meaning. No matter how you see yourself now, no matter what you’ve done wrong in the past, how you were raised or the challenging experiences you’ve faced, you can forge a new identity that will be the foundation for who you can become.

But first, let’s determine whether your identity lies in the modern, traditional, or divine realms.

THINK THIS: A divine identity, based on who God says I am, will motivate me to live with excellence, no matter who is watching.

NOT THAT: I do my best when someone notices and strive for the affirmation of others.

Write down Ephesians 2:10 in a place where you can see it, making the pronouns personal: “For I am God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good work, which God prepared in advance for me to do.”