Think Again!

12 • Think Again: Transformation That Yields a Return on God’s Investment

A Liar The danger in finding personal identity is that we forget that there is an enemy who lies to us about who we are, an adversary who attempts to ruin our lives and take us off track. He would like to frame the debate of our identity and get us away from our identity as God sees us . He doesn’t care what identity we choose, as long as it is not based in our identity in Christ. So if your identity is based solely on being a social-justice advocate, Satan wins; a gang-banging drug lord, Satan wins; a greedy wall street mogul, Satan wins; a devoted grandmother, Satan wins. Identities don’t have to be overtly evil to be satanic, they simply need to distract you from your true identity in Christ. Neil Anderson said, “We have been deceived into believing that what we do determines who we are. The only identity that works in God’s Kingdom is you plus Christ equals wholeness and meaning.” 6 If you do not know who you are in Christ, you will be defeated most of your life. 7 Forging, not Finding For the follower of Christ, there is a different path to identity. In the world, people attempt to find their identity , but in the Kingdom, God’s desire is to forge your identity (Gal. 3.28). He wants to conform you to the image of Jesus (Rom. 8.29). Identity is not so much about discovering yourself, but realizing who you belong to . You belong to a King with a kingdom task that is larger than yourself. It’s not what you do that makes you meaningful, but the contribution you make for his Kingdom. You can be worthwhile when you can give up being a “big fish in little pond,” accepting your role as a “little fish in God’s grand ocean.”

Jesus said you will find your life only when you lose it, when you give it up for his sake (Matt. 16.25). But when you permit