Thoughts On Identity
The Grace to Live in Your True Identity
Life has a way of confronting us with uncomfortable questions about who we really are. Not the person we present to the world, not the role we play at work or in our families, but who we truly are at our core. This journey of discovering and living in our authentic, God-given identity is one of the most transformative experiences available to us as believers.
The Intruder Thoughts
Many of us struggle with the gap between who God says we are and what we experience in our daily battles with temptation. Perhaps you've wrestled with lustful thoughts, struggled with addiction, or battled with patterns of sin that seem impossible to break. The critical shift happens when we begin to recognize these temptations not as defining characteristics of who we are, but as intruders attempting to hijack our true identity.
The Apostle Paul instructs us to "take every thought captive unto Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). This isn't just spiritual jargon—it's a practical battle plan. Every intrusive thought that demands our attention, agreement, or attempts to claim our identity must be brought before the Lord and evaluated against the truth of who He says we are.
The flesh will always be tempted. That's the reality of living in a fallen world. But transformation doesn't mean the absence of temptation—it means recognizing that those temptations are not your identity. You are a new creation in Christ, and those old patterns are trespassers in a house they no longer own.
Grace: More Than Just Pardon
We often think of grace as simply the unmerited favor that saves us from punishment. Mercy means not getting what we deserve, and grace means getting what we don't deserve—salvation and heaven. But this understanding, while true, is incomplete.
John Piper offers a profound insight: "Grace is not simply leniency when we have sinned. Grace is the enabling gift and power of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon."
Consider Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 15:10: "I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that was within me." Grace is the supernatural power that enables us to press forward in obedience. It's the strength God supplies so that in everything He may be glorified (1 Peter 4:11).
The same grace that saves you through faith is the same grace that sanctifies you through that same faith. This means you're not left to white-knuckle your way through the Christian life, constantly failing and feeling condemned. You have access to divine power to live in purity and freedom.
The Hospital, Not the Courtroom
The church is meant to be a hospital, not a courtroom. When the Pharisees questioned why Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners, He responded: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matthew 9:12-13).
Romans 14 reminds us that we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not please ourselves. If someone struggles with something you don't, remember that we're all patients in God's hospital, at different stages of healing. The acts of the flesh are obvious—sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, hatred, and the like—but our response to those who struggle should be marked by compassion, not condemnation.
This is where accountability and community become essential. Walking in freedom often means being vulnerable enough to ask for help, to set up boundaries, and to let others walk alongside you in your weakness. There's no shame in utilizing resources, accountability software, or trusted relationships to help you steward your heart well in a particular season.
The Attack on Identity
Satan's primary strategy hasn't changed since the Garden of Eden—he attacks identity. When Jesus was baptized, the Father declared, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). Jesus' identity: beloved Son. His vocation: Messiah.
Immediately after this declaration, Jesus was led into the wilderness where Satan attacked. Did the enemy question whether Jesus was truly the prophesied Messiah? No. He went straight for identity: "If you are the Son of God..." (Matthew 4:3, 6).
The same pattern plays out in our lives. The enemy doesn't primarily attack your roles or your accomplishments. He attacks who you are as a son or daughter of God. He whispers that your sin disqualifies you, that you're not really forgiven, that you're too far gone, that there's not enough time for God to use you.
True vs. False Identity
True identity is received in community from God and is others-focused. It's stable, unchanging, and rooted in who God says you are.
False identity is sourced from what we do, what we have, or what other people think about us. These sources are unstable and constantly shifting. When your identity comes from your job, what happens when you retire? When it comes from being a parent, what happens when your children leave home? When it comes from your spouse, what happens if you're widowed?
Your vocation may change. Your roles will shift. Your circumstances will transform with or without your consent through the passage of time. But if you know you are a loved son or daughter of God, you have an identity that transcends all these changes.
The Parable of Generous Grace
The parable of the vineyard workers in Matthew 20 confronts our sense of fairness. Workers hired at different times throughout the day—early morning, 9 AM, noon, 3 PM, even 5 PM—all received the same payment. Those who worked all day grumbled, feeling it was unfair.
But the landowner's response cuts to the heart: "Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?" (Matthew 20:15).
These times of day likely correspond to seasons in life. Some come to the Lord in childhood, others in youth, young adulthood, middle age, or even old age. The reward? The same. The adoption? Identical. The eternity in His presence? Equal.
God redeems time. Whether you're 13 or 91, you have an amazing future and a call on your life. There are teenagers who don't think there's enough time for God to redeem their story, and there are elderly believers who feel their usefulness has passed. Both are wrong.
The Prophetess Anna's Example
Luke 2:36-38 introduces us to Anna, a prophetess who was widowed after just seven years of marriage and remained a widow until she was 84. The text says she "never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying."
What was her productivity? By worldly standards, not much. She just hung out in the temple for over 60 years. But when Jesus was presented at the temple as an infant, she was there, recognizing Him and speaking about Him "to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem."
Her entire identity was wrapped up in her love for the Lord. She worshiped, interceded, and fasted. And in doing so, she positioned herself to recognize the Messiah when He arrived.
If you don't know what to set your hand to, if the Lord hasn't made your next step clear, you're invited to worship, intercede, and fast. In doing this, you set yourself in the middle of your real identity. You acknowledge God for who He really is, and you give Him the opportunity to show you what to do next.
Walking by the Spirit
Galatians 5:16 offers a beautiful promise: "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." This isn't about trying harder or following more rules. It's about cultivating deep, intimate relationship with the Lord.
When you turn your eyes upon Jesus and look full in His wonderful face, the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. This isn't escapism—it's reorientation. It's allowing worship to recalibrate your heart to what truly matters.
The gospel must be relational, or it becomes mere task management, behavior modification, and stereotype conformity. You're being invited into something far deeper: intimate communion with the God who calls you His beloved child, who enables you by His grace, and who has plans to use you regardless of what season of life you're in.
Your identity isn't found in your productivity, your purity record, your accomplishments, or others' opinions. Your identity is found in being a child of God, adopted into His family, empowered by His grace, and called to walk in intimate relationship with Him.
This is who you really are. Everything else is just details.
To watch the full sermon "Thoughts on Identity" click here
The Intruder Thoughts
Many of us struggle with the gap between who God says we are and what we experience in our daily battles with temptation. Perhaps you've wrestled with lustful thoughts, struggled with addiction, or battled with patterns of sin that seem impossible to break. The critical shift happens when we begin to recognize these temptations not as defining characteristics of who we are, but as intruders attempting to hijack our true identity.
The Apostle Paul instructs us to "take every thought captive unto Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). This isn't just spiritual jargon—it's a practical battle plan. Every intrusive thought that demands our attention, agreement, or attempts to claim our identity must be brought before the Lord and evaluated against the truth of who He says we are.
The flesh will always be tempted. That's the reality of living in a fallen world. But transformation doesn't mean the absence of temptation—it means recognizing that those temptations are not your identity. You are a new creation in Christ, and those old patterns are trespassers in a house they no longer own.
Grace: More Than Just Pardon
We often think of grace as simply the unmerited favor that saves us from punishment. Mercy means not getting what we deserve, and grace means getting what we don't deserve—salvation and heaven. But this understanding, while true, is incomplete.
John Piper offers a profound insight: "Grace is not simply leniency when we have sinned. Grace is the enabling gift and power of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon."
Consider Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 15:10: "I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that was within me." Grace is the supernatural power that enables us to press forward in obedience. It's the strength God supplies so that in everything He may be glorified (1 Peter 4:11).
The same grace that saves you through faith is the same grace that sanctifies you through that same faith. This means you're not left to white-knuckle your way through the Christian life, constantly failing and feeling condemned. You have access to divine power to live in purity and freedom.
The Hospital, Not the Courtroom
The church is meant to be a hospital, not a courtroom. When the Pharisees questioned why Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners, He responded: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matthew 9:12-13).
Romans 14 reminds us that we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not please ourselves. If someone struggles with something you don't, remember that we're all patients in God's hospital, at different stages of healing. The acts of the flesh are obvious—sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, hatred, and the like—but our response to those who struggle should be marked by compassion, not condemnation.
This is where accountability and community become essential. Walking in freedom often means being vulnerable enough to ask for help, to set up boundaries, and to let others walk alongside you in your weakness. There's no shame in utilizing resources, accountability software, or trusted relationships to help you steward your heart well in a particular season.
The Attack on Identity
Satan's primary strategy hasn't changed since the Garden of Eden—he attacks identity. When Jesus was baptized, the Father declared, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). Jesus' identity: beloved Son. His vocation: Messiah.
Immediately after this declaration, Jesus was led into the wilderness where Satan attacked. Did the enemy question whether Jesus was truly the prophesied Messiah? No. He went straight for identity: "If you are the Son of God..." (Matthew 4:3, 6).
The same pattern plays out in our lives. The enemy doesn't primarily attack your roles or your accomplishments. He attacks who you are as a son or daughter of God. He whispers that your sin disqualifies you, that you're not really forgiven, that you're too far gone, that there's not enough time for God to use you.
True vs. False Identity
True identity is received in community from God and is others-focused. It's stable, unchanging, and rooted in who God says you are.
False identity is sourced from what we do, what we have, or what other people think about us. These sources are unstable and constantly shifting. When your identity comes from your job, what happens when you retire? When it comes from being a parent, what happens when your children leave home? When it comes from your spouse, what happens if you're widowed?
Your vocation may change. Your roles will shift. Your circumstances will transform with or without your consent through the passage of time. But if you know you are a loved son or daughter of God, you have an identity that transcends all these changes.
The Parable of Generous Grace
The parable of the vineyard workers in Matthew 20 confronts our sense of fairness. Workers hired at different times throughout the day—early morning, 9 AM, noon, 3 PM, even 5 PM—all received the same payment. Those who worked all day grumbled, feeling it was unfair.
But the landowner's response cuts to the heart: "Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?" (Matthew 20:15).
These times of day likely correspond to seasons in life. Some come to the Lord in childhood, others in youth, young adulthood, middle age, or even old age. The reward? The same. The adoption? Identical. The eternity in His presence? Equal.
God redeems time. Whether you're 13 or 91, you have an amazing future and a call on your life. There are teenagers who don't think there's enough time for God to redeem their story, and there are elderly believers who feel their usefulness has passed. Both are wrong.
The Prophetess Anna's Example
Luke 2:36-38 introduces us to Anna, a prophetess who was widowed after just seven years of marriage and remained a widow until she was 84. The text says she "never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying."
What was her productivity? By worldly standards, not much. She just hung out in the temple for over 60 years. But when Jesus was presented at the temple as an infant, she was there, recognizing Him and speaking about Him "to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem."
Her entire identity was wrapped up in her love for the Lord. She worshiped, interceded, and fasted. And in doing so, she positioned herself to recognize the Messiah when He arrived.
If you don't know what to set your hand to, if the Lord hasn't made your next step clear, you're invited to worship, intercede, and fast. In doing this, you set yourself in the middle of your real identity. You acknowledge God for who He really is, and you give Him the opportunity to show you what to do next.
Walking by the Spirit
Galatians 5:16 offers a beautiful promise: "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." This isn't about trying harder or following more rules. It's about cultivating deep, intimate relationship with the Lord.
When you turn your eyes upon Jesus and look full in His wonderful face, the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. This isn't escapism—it's reorientation. It's allowing worship to recalibrate your heart to what truly matters.
The gospel must be relational, or it becomes mere task management, behavior modification, and stereotype conformity. You're being invited into something far deeper: intimate communion with the God who calls you His beloved child, who enables you by His grace, and who has plans to use you regardless of what season of life you're in.
Your identity isn't found in your productivity, your purity record, your accomplishments, or others' opinions. Your identity is found in being a child of God, adopted into His family, empowered by His grace, and called to walk in intimate relationship with Him.
This is who you really are. Everything else is just details.
To watch the full sermon "Thoughts on Identity" click here
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