The Identity Crisis Solved: Find Your Purposeful Heart

Good day, Purposeful Hearts! Today, we confront one of the most challenging and sensitive topics facing our society right now, and that’s the issue of identity. I’m not referring to your driver’s license, passport, or social security number. I’m not talking about your name and address. I’m not even talking about your job title.

 

We all know that identity goes way deeper than that. Our sense of self lies at the core of our existence, and it gives us the opportunity to justify our existence or question everything with each passing day. We’re aware of all the attempts to heighten one’s sense of self through strategies like reading self-help books, engaging in self-care, practicing positive self-talk, doing some self-reflection (you know I like that one), and the like. Self, self, self.

 

Is it any surprise, after all the self-focused efforts to patch our identities together and sprinkle on some positivity, that so many people struggle to embrace who they are each day and truly live with purpose? No, it’s not. Think of everything we’re trying to overcome with these efforts (and the little Post-it note affirmations around the mirror)! Our quest for identity often means trying to heal or mask past hurts from a challenging childhood, personal trauma, negative influences, and toxic relationships. What we heard or saw during those difficult times can drown out even the best overtures of self-care.

 

For the deepest of identity issues, we need to venture to the deepest source of care and affirmation there is, and it’s found only through Jesus. When we recognize that we are fully redeemed from all of our flaws and sinfulness through the innocent blood he shed for us on Calvary’s cross, we remember that we are not our own – we were bought for that price. This is a most blessed form of ownership and belonging, though! We’re no longer slaves to what the world offers – the empty and meaningless labels of our culture. Instead, we find our creator God taking delight in our every breath, our every choice, our every success, our every struggle, and our every act of service.

 

That’s right, Purposeful Hearts! Because you belong to a God who sees beyond your calendar app, your long-term goals, and your difficult phases of life, your identity and sense of self are found in the safety of his arms and the security of his plans for your life. By his grace and his gift of purpose in your life, you are free to serve, free to live, free to try hard, and free to adventure forward! Stop relying on the world’s limited vocabulary to define who you are – and remember whose you are instead!