IDENTITY

My home church, FUMC Coppell, is in the middle of a really awesome sermon series right now called Identity Theft. This past Sunday the sermon really spoke to me and I just have to share with everyone how important this message is!!

I think identity is something I have struggled with off and on throughout my whole life. It's hard growing up trying to figure out who you are exactly or who you want to be. Society creates an unrealistic cookie cutter image of who we should be. We feel pressured to look a certain way, go to a good college, find a successful career, find a husband/wife, and the list goes on and on. Trying to figure out who we are as a person can be extremely confusing and discouraging if you continue to think of identity in that way.

My pastor defined identity as this: you are a beloved child of God. That is your identity. You are not defined by your appearance, how much money you make, or where your degree is from. You are plainly and simply a child of God. It's so hard to remember this as we grow up and start to find our identity in significant others, our majors, our jobs, etc. Why do we do this to ourselves? All of these things are subject to change at any moment. We need to find our identity in something deeper. Something that will never change. Even as we grow up and evolve into different people, we need a solid foundation of our identity. God can provide that for us. God's love for us is never going to change. He is always there for us. Even if you have neglected Him by trying to define yourself in worldly things. He forgives us and loves us because we are His children.

I came up with this really silly metaphor that's actually so true and helps me grasp this concept so bear with me. You know that feeling you get when maybe you just worked out and feel really dirty or maybe you've been feeling sick and just feel gross and then you take a shower and feel so refreshed? That's what baptism is like. Before we were baptized, we were born gross human beings full of sin. When we give ourselves to God and get baptized, whether that's as a young child or as an adult, God washes all of that nasty stuff away. He showers us with love and forgiveness when we choose to follow him. Our pastor told us a story about Martin Luther and how he was struggling with finding his identity. What he did was reaffirm his baptism by dipping his hand in water and drawing a cross on his forehead to remind himself that he is a child of God. Now at my church we all typically get baptized as babies or young children and at that age it's hard to wrap your mind around this concept. Last Sunday we took a moment to reaffirm our baptisms by dipping our hands in water and drawing a cross on our foreheads. I just thought this was the coolest thing ever as I knelt down at the altar and thanked God for my baptism and all that He has done for me since then. It felt like I had just hopped out of the shower. Refreshed and feeling like a new person. If you were baptized when you were really young or even if you were baptized not that long ago, I encourage y'all to take a moment to remember your baptism and remember that your identity is a child of God. It doesn't matter if you are single, if you are making bad grades in school, if you don't have your future planned out... NONE OF THOSE THINGS MATTER. YOU ARE A PRECIOUS CHILD OF GOD, MY FRIEND!