beloved

He Calls Me Beloved

/ jfunkhouser / Leave a comment

In my last post I shared how much I’m learning about identity. Turns out, all the mistakes I’ve made looking back, whether they were “little” or “big,” all come down to this. A wrong view of myself will be played out in wrong actions and attitudes every time.

The struggle for identity is very real for all of us. Whether we’re searching for meaning in our work, in our relationships, in our children, in our accomplishments, we’re all looking to hit bedrock somewhere. We all want to find something unshakable, that can tell us how to walk the dark and uncertain moments of our daily life. We have a strong desire to be noticed, to be valued, to belong. To be loved.

One of the biggest problems I’ve found about identity, however, is how often can settle down to me.

Take, for example, the two big camps on identity. One group appeals to the person who has low self-esteem–who thinks, “Who am I? God could never love me.” In response to this, we have a whole flood of books and articles trying to convince people that “God is crazy about you.” They emphasize being made in God’s image, constantly on his mind, and looked down upon in adoring love. I fully believe that God loves his people purely and passionately. But hear me out.

The other camp tries to speak to those who may have too high a view of themselves. They need to be “taken down a notch”–reminded of their need for humility before a holy and high God. We don’t see as many books and articles written on this one, but they’re still out there. The reminder of our sin and constantly, daily need for God’s grace is designed to help us realize that, as the Bible teaches, we are frail and made of dust.

Both of these truths are taught in Scripture, and can certainly be supported by many Biblical accounts. What I am trying communicate here is simply that we do God a great injustice by simply stopping there.  

The main goal of the Bible is not for us to think better, or worse about ourselves. The main goal of the Bible is not even for us to understand ourselves rightly. The main goal of the Bible is for us to understand God rightly.  A right view of God will inevitably lead into a right view of humanity, including ourselves. But neither self-confidence nor humility should ever be the goal. Our aim should always be Him.

When we truly know who it is that we worship, when we understand the incredible love of a God who chose us to be his Beloved, we can’t help but move past our own insecurities. When we can completely trust the heart of a God who sacrificed his Son to bring us redemption, we can also trust that he means what he says about you and me.

Instead of trying to teach our children a proper amount of self-confidence, maybe we should be teaching them how to have God-confidence. How to be so secure in their status as the child of the great King, they’ll hold their heads high even through bullying and hurt. How to be so sure that God loves them, they can smile with compassion instead of fighting for importance.

Identity and worship. At first glance, they don’t seem to go together, but their threads are woven tightly together.

Will you choose to worship yourself today, and constantly be on the defensive?

Or will you choose to worship the one who holds the whole of the universe in the palm of His hands, who has the very hairs on your head numbered, and lean into this incredible Love that will never let you go?

The most important thing you ever do.

/ jfunkhouser / 2 Comments

Before this past year, I never really put much stock in all this talk about “identity.”

Maybe it was because I already thought I knew who I was. Or maybe it was because I never realized how wrong so many of my thoughts about myself were.

Whatever it was, I blew off talks of identity as too self-focused. I saw it as a way to build other people’s self-images–simply trying to make people feel better about themselves. As if feelings can solve anything, I thought.

The reason I’m starting out my blog with this post is because I now realize that understanding your identity is the most important thing you will ever do. Answering those big questions–Who am I? Why am I here? What is my unique role to play in this community? In the world?–will not just become how you define your life. They will become your life.

The reality is, we drive in the direction we are looking. We follow our idea of who we are to its next logical conclusion every time. That’s why it is so, so important to actually THINK about who we think we are.

If I see myself as inadequate, “not enough,” then guess what? I’m never going to go very far.

If I see myself as meant to enjoy life to the fullest, then guess what? My one goal in life is to have fun. To be happy.

If I see myself as the girl meant to solve the world’s problems, then guess what? You got it–an overwhelmed hopelessness at all the evil in the world–and burnout trying to make a dent.

BUT–

If I see myself as the Beloved of God

If I see myself full of the power of the Holy Spirit

If I see myself as one who has been given incomparable riches through Christ

If I see myself intimately connected to the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe…

..then guess what? My life is going to head in that direction.

Let’s go back to that again: embedding yourself rock-solid in who you are is the most important thing you’ll ever do.

Now, remember how I said I used to blow that off, because it sounded too self-centered? Well here’s the beautiful thing we’ll explore in the next two posts. A rock-solid identity doesn’t just change how you view yourself, and the outcome of your life. It does two things more important than that: opens your heart up to love and worship of your Creator, and forever changes the way you see those around you as well.

When we look at it this way, we see that coming to terms with our identity is merely a step in the process. We can’t stop there, as if the whole point was to make us feel better about ourselves. True identity-shift will always bring us back into a posture of worship and compassion.