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Finding Your Identity in Christ

Every day, there is an assault on your identity. What started in the garden with Adam and Eve (as we saw in yesterday’s devotional) continues to this day. It may be a commercial that says you’d look better with different clothes or a better body. It may be a comment someone makes to you that prompts you to compare yourself with another person. It may involve the loss of a job or a relationship.

If the enemy can convince you that your identity and value can be found in something or someone other than God, then you will settle for a life far less than the life God has for you.

One thing I love about Jesus is that He was a master of treating people as they could be. We see this clearly in an encounter Jesus had with an outcast.

While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” (Luke 5:12)

In that time and place, those with leprosy were ceremonially unclean. They were excluded from the temple. They had to shout, “Unclean, unclean,” letting everyone know they were untouchable. Their leprosy became their spiritual and relational identity.

That’s why it’s so astonishing to read what Jesus did next.

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. (verse 13)

Jesus touched him—a person who hadn’t been touched in years. And why did Jesus touch him? It wasn’t to heal him. The words “Be clean” healed him. Jesus’ touch restored this man’s value and healed his heart.

The Lord’s touch still gives worth when spiritual leprosy has afflicted our souls. Our sins and mistakes can become our false identity, but Jesus’ touch shows us who we really are in Him.

Where do you need the touch of Jesus today?