‘So tell me about yourself’. This used to be a dreadful question for me. The question of my identity tends to scream at me everywhere I go; the cute guy that slides into my dm, at the job interview, literally everywhere and I get blank, probably because I also don’t know me (or at least I didn’t know me😪).
We live in a world where different things scream at us, placing tags on our heads, telling us who we are (or not) and the result of this is Identity Crisis. If you’re struggling with answering the question ‘Who am I?’, you might want to stick around for this. Get your cup of tea (or juice box) and relax as I let you in on how I found me.😁
As a little girl I used to be such a people pleaser (sometimes I think I still am. Don’t judge me🙄😪). I had it stuck in my head that everyone has to like me (it can’t work, even Jesus wasn’t/isn’t liked by all 🤡). Anyhooo, the problem with people pleasing is that, as you try so hard to desperately be accepted by people, you end up loosing yourself (You might want to read that again😉). Our world makes it pretty easy to lose yourself with its laid out standards of beauty, preferred personalities and whatnot. So there’s me, the people pleaser, tailoring myself based on what people liked, said and even how they were. I was so concerned and hooked on what people liked and what the world applauds than what God approved and said. 👎
With me, comparison and seeking validation set in. You know, rating yourself based on what ‘they said’, and using others as a standard against yourself. Now that I think about it, that’s such a lame and ignorant way of looking at yourself. ‘You’re too short’, now I have to be tall, ‘I don’t like you’, now I’m not good enough. Let’s not even get into the mistakes that I let define me. You know how someone makes a mistake and we all of a sudden decide that she is her mistake? Yep! That’s it😣.
Finding Me meant loosing others. It meant me cleaning up the layers of makeup I covered Me with. Putting off the garments that I had on that weren’t even a good fit to begin with. Funny how you never look good when you wear a garment that wasn’t tailored for you. I definitely couldn’t sustain my identity because I was a fake. Yes! I said it! When you keep changing your tags because you think others would accept you, sorry but not sorry, you’re a fake. (Too harsh?)
If you’re wearing someone else’s garment, you should probably take it off right about now. If you’re answering to a name that’s not yours, you should probably stop answering. Yeah yeah you’re going to feel naked and nameless, but hold on! I’m not done.
When something is made, it is the owner that has the right and power really to name it and tell others what its name is. Picture the unveiling of the latest Iphone, Apple didn’t have a random guy name the product, nope! Only Apple can name its product(s). My mentor once said that “it is only the creator that can give an accurate definition of the creature”. Only God can give an accurate definition of you. As a child of God, who you think you are isn’t your identity, because your thoughts are a byproduct of all you’ve heard and learnt from people and they could be against what God says. Your identity isn’t based on what people say either, only on what God says.
But you are God’s chosen treasure—priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his marvelous light, and now he claims you as his very own. He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world .
1 Peter 2:9 TPT
The amazing thing is, your thoughts are your reality, so if you know who God says you are, you should rest in it and think about it, then! you become who He says you are and wouldn’t have to spend half your time (and energy) trying to prove a point to others.
How does a baby get to know her name? She hears it constantly. You should think more about what God says about you than what others or you say about you. One thing the devil tackles is our identity (ask Adam and Eve) and he comes in various ways; through your thoughts, your past, your problems and the negative voices around you. All of these don’t and shouldn’t define you. Only God can define you and He has, in His Word.
Friend, your mistakes don’t define you any more than your victories do. You and I are defined by what God says about us (all those wonderful things in Ephesians 2!), not what the world says. When we’ve messed up, when we’ve hurt ourselves or others by our own selfishness, we should run toward God, not away from him! When we need mercy, we should go where mercy is found
Laura Story
So you see, all you need to do is put on the garment of many colors that God already tailored to your perfect fit, and answer to the name He calls you.
If you’re lost, find yourself in God because that’s where you can be found.
Lady of Substance
Lady Of Substance 