Identity in Crisis: Discovering Your True Northഉദാഹരണം

After Jesus was baptized and received his identity from the Father, he was immediately led into the wilderness where he fasted and was tempted by Satan. Luke 4:1-13 records how these temptations targeted the very foundation of his identity – trying to get him to prove who he was through performance, to seek approval through spectacle, and to grasp at position through power.

We face these same temptations daily. The Scriptures remind us that we are tempted like Jesus was. Let's examine three dangerous places where we often plant our identity.

1. Performance

Jesus was tempted to perform and prove his divinity by turning stones into bread. But his Father had already declared who he was before he performed any miracles.

When you plant your identity in performance, you're always just one mistake away from an identity crisis. That's exhausting, nerve-wracking, anxiety-inducing, and incredibly stressful.

When he was very young, I found my oldest son hiding after making a decision he knew would lead to consequences. He asked me after being disciplined, "Pappa, are you mad at me?" I replied, "Yes, buddy, I am. But I love you, and that's never going to change."

My son struggles to disconnect my love from his performance – and I do the same when it comes to God.

2. Approval

Everyone has an opinion of you. Sometimes, the opinions are quiet, and sometimes they are loud. One of my greatest struggles in life and ministry has been embracing God's approval rather than trying to earn others' approval. Standing on a platform each Sunday as a pastor and publishing my writing online each day as a writer makes it challenging to ignore the opinions of others.

If you read the Gospels, you see a wide range of opinions about Jesus. The religious leaders, political figures, the poor, the sick, his family, his friends – everyone had opinions, agendas, and expectations. Daily, Jesus disappointed people and frustrated their expectations while living with God's approval, which was spoken during his baptism.

Craig Groeschel once said, "You can either live for the approval of others or you can live from the approval of God." That choice changes everything.

3. Position

Position and power easily become idols – things we look to for security and identity.

In his book "Counterfeit Gods," Tim Keller writes: "What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give..."

We build idols when we say, "If I can just have THAT, then I'll feel my life has meaning, then I'll know I have value, then I'll feel significant and secure."

Christ could have considered his position as co-equal with God as an entitlement. He could have looked to his power rather than His Father for worth and value.. Instead, he said, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

Like water appearing on distant desert roads that disappears upon approach, our idols deceive us.

Whether we’re looking to a successful performance, the approval of others, or the power and prestige of a position, rooting our identity in anything but the approval of God will disappoint us.

Tomorrow, we'll explore practical habits that help us live from our true identity in Christ. But today, ask yourself: Where have I planted my identity outside of who God says I am?