Identity Theft - Take off the Mask

It’s crazy to me, that I am the one talking about identity. As I write this, thoughts bombard me - not being enough, wanting to please people and feeling defeated. And that is exactly why I am also the perfect one to be writing this. These are lies. What I do or who people think I am, may not necessarily be the truth.

Am I defined by my mistakes or my success? Am I defined by my job or what I achieved? Am I defined by the things I have done right or what I have done wrong? What about what others think of me? Is that what I am defined by? Am I all of these things or none of these things? WHO AM I?

People, social media, society, and my past failures had stolen my identity and claimed it as their own. They stripped me from who I actually was and fed me continuous lies about myself. They told me that I was the girl who wasn’t good enough because she didn’t get enough likes on instagram, I was the girl who didn’t get high enough grades, I was the girl who wasn’t skinny enough and lastly, I was the girl who had failed too many times for God to ever forgive me or claim me as His child again. And I believed them. I believed that my identity was labeled by failure, fear, hopelessness and hurt. I was so distracted trying to be someone else that I didn’t realize how far away from myself I actually was. During my teenage years I began to question who I was the most. I struggled with self-image, comparison, fitting in and striving to be who everyone wanted me to be. I know I am not the only one who has had this struggle and I want you to know you aren’t alone in this.

In my more recent years, I realized that there is this misconception in society that is so very twisted. The misconception is that your identity is found in being loved by a man or a woman, the misconception that your worth is found in your size, the misconception is that society defines who you are. As I began to get older I realized that truly, inner beauty outlasts outer beauty. Whether I am beautiful in the eyes of the world or not, I'm beautiful in the eyes of the Lord. And the opinion of God is much more important and true than the opinions of this world. When I began to believe this, it all finally stopped. All the spinning in my head of the things I had to do, all the people I had to please, all the things I had to get right and prove, finally just stopped. It stopped for me whenever I realized that I was worth more than anyone could tell me, show me, or teach me.

I am God's masterpiece and so are you. You aren’t just a mom/dad, a musician, a doctor, an athlete or a teacher, you are much more than that. Your identity rests solely in the one who created you, in the one who said you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Our God sees you, He knows your heart, He knows every struggle you have ever faced and He is right there beside you. You never have to question whether God loves you or not, He does and He always will. You don’t need to impress Him or try to be perfect for Him, He loves you in the midst of your brokenness and imperfect mess.

If we try to identify ourselves by anything other than what He says about us, we will never be able to stand strong. His thoughts about us are endless and He wants us to see ourselves the way he sees us. No-one is too broken or too messy to be called a Child of God. No-one’s past can identify them. You are loved before you are anything else. Let love define you.

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~ KNOW THIS ~

1. You are not defined by your past mistakes

2. You are not defined by people’s opinions

3. You are not defined by what you do

4. You are fearfully and wonderfully made

5. The Love of God is the only thing that truly defines you

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Psalm 139: 13-16 (NIV)

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

1 Peter: 2-9 (NIV)

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

Ephesians 1:4 (NIV)

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love.”