IDENTITY: Who someone is; the name of a person. The qualities, beliefs, etc., that make a particular person or group different from others.
Our identity is who we are; it makes up our character. So many things come into play when one’s identity is being formed. Genetics, birth place, beliefs, social relationships and friends etc. It determines how we view ourselves, how we think about ourselves.
I have struggled with my identity since I was a teenager, which usually meant I was always taking on the identity of my closest friend or group of friends at the time.
I would behave like them, believe what they believed. I was very easily influenced. Some of that has followed me into adulthood, but as I began to follow the Lord He has been patiently working in me to redefine and show me who I really am, who he created me to be.
Not knowing who you are or believing a lie leads to confusion. I think its important for us as wives and mothers to be firmly rooted in our identity as Christ followers, as children of the most high. Because that is when we know who we are that we can stand firm against the lies of the deceiver.
Since this has been a struggle sense adolescents, I find I’m most shaken when I’m not firmly planted. I start to allow the lies to form my identity, and that scares the mess out of me. But in Colossians, God begins to show us who He says we are, and for me in my life, the one that stood out the most is the following verse.
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)
When the enemy is fueling my mind with anxiety and fear and I feel as though I may actually lose my mind, I pray the Holy Spirit remind me that I am not a child of darkness but I am a child of light. I HAVE been DELIEVERED from darkness and now I am in light with Jesus. I am forgiven and redeemed. Because I was curious I looked up the definition of redemption.
Definition: the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt.
I am poor, but Jesus paid my way. He paid the debt on my behalf, and because of that I have gained His inheritance. I stand with Him, cleansed, full of hope, filled with Joy and in the presence of my Heavenly Father.
This is who I am!!
Building strong marriages together,
Ashley Ladd
