Identity

So I've finally given in, I got a blog. I've been intending on it for awhile, I just didn't think I'd have anything to write about. I still don't... but I guess I'll at least try.

I think lately I've realized that I want to better understand myself, like who I really am and where I'm going. That's the real reason for starting a blog I suppose, because I feel like a great way to know yourself is to write, to get these thoughts down on paper (or in this case, more of a digital parchment).

I guess the first thing to ask is,what does it mean to 'know yourself'? I mean, shouldn't we all know ourselves better than anyone else does? One would think but I know, in my case at least, I'm the most confusing person I know. I guess when I think of 'knowing myself' I think of understanding why I do what I do. Questions like "Why do I keep going down this same path when I know where it's going to take me" or "Why do I have so much trouble letting go of these things I hold on to" run through my head constantly. I don't know if you guys have ever felt like that, but I certainly do.

It's been said that your past forms who you are now. If I'm shaped by the person I used to be, frankly I'm screwed. Granted, I've learned from my mistakes and hope not to make the same foul-ups again, but no one wants to see themselves as who they'd prefer not to be.

A wise man once told me that, "It's not as important to know who you are as it is to know whose you are." Ultimately, maybe it is more important to have an identity somewhere outside of us that gives us purpose and value. For those of us that are believers, our identity is in Christ. Think about it for a second; if we have given our hearts and lives to Jesus, doesn't it also make sense to give him our identity? We say he's the 'center' of our lives but, if people look at us and don't see Christ shining out, our we for real? By giving Christ our identity, we are no longer responsible for our past and the things we've done. Jesus has taken those things and nailed them to the cross, not only our sins, but every part of our lives that aren't of him.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

What that verse is saying essentially is that, because of the cross, our old self, our identity, was put to death. We have instead taken on the identity of Christ. That's where the term "Christian" came from. People saw Jesus' followers and how much like him that they were that they dubbed them "little Christs". Why are we any different? Why do we look so different from the one who lives in us?

So we're back to where we started I suppose. What does it really mean to 'know yourself'? This little journey we've taken seems to indicate that, knowing yourself means knowing Christ, if your identity is in him, if you are saved by his grace and love. So the best way to know yourself is to know him, we are created in the image of God after all.