Who I am

I am a mom.

I am a wife.

I am a friend.

I am a cook, a maid, a chauffer, a counselor, a daughter, a sister.  I am a family manager, a wanna-be writer, a student, and a bible study teacher.

I am an extrovert.  I talk.  A lot!  I am loud.  I am opinionated.  

I am a former cheerleader, a Jayhawk, a book lover, a runner (sort of), a lover of fashion.  

I am Jesus lover, a disciple of Christ and a child of the one true King. 

That is who I am.  

THAT is my identity.  

What is yours? 

Today we find ourselves in the thanksgiving section of 1 Corinthians.  Open your Bible and read 1 Cor. 1:4-9.  In these verses Paul is doing a couple of things.  One, he is giving thanks for the people of Corinth - that one is pretty obvious. But he is also pointing out to them their identity.  He is telling them who they are, or at least who they want to be, who they claim to be.  We will soon find out that they aren't exactly living up to this identity.  

Can you relate to that?  Is the person you want to be, claim to be, describe yourself to be, really the person that you are?  Sometimes we are our own worst critic.  Many times we are far too hard on ourselves.  But there are also times, when our eyes are closed to the truth.  When we are so busy believing we are a certain thing, a certain way, we can't see how wrong we actually are.  This is what happened to the Corinthians.  

They placed their very identity in their rhetoric speech, on their knowledge, and their gifts; not realizing these were the very things they were getting completely wrong.  

These days our culture encourages us to place our identity in our checking account (when it is plentiful and when it is lacking), in our children, or our social calendar.  We are told to place our identity in our job, our hobbies, or our successes.  Yet just like the Corinthians these are the things we are getting completely wrong.

Our identity needs to be, must be in Christ, above all else.  Before our family, before our careers, before our passions or hobbies.  Our identity should be a testimony to Christ Jesus.  And that should be demonstrated by our actions not just our words.  It should be apparent to all we meet just who we are in Christ.  

It is in Christ and through Christ that we are who we are.  That we have the gifts we have.  And those gifts should point people directly back to Christ.  If not for Him, we would not have what we have.  We are a living testimony of the goodness, mercy and grace that comes from Christ.  He is our identity.

And when our actions do not match up with our identity (as was the case with the Corinthians) it is our actions that need to change, not who we claim to be.  This is nearly impossible to do on our own.  But Paul assures us that Christ will keep us strong to the end.  When your identity is in Christ, it is through His strength that we are able to live the life we are called to live.  

I am a mom.

I am a wife.

I am a friend.

But first and foremost, I am a child of the one true King.

That is who I am.

Who are you?