Identity has been a huge buzzword recently, both in societal/cultural and religious spheres. It seems that there are so many ideas circulating about what makes you who you are. You are what you feel, what you make, what you do, who you associate yourself with, what you look like, what religion you follow, which political candidate you support…etc. Controversies have risen in sexuality and race, challenging ideas have caused division between groups and intellectual wars have been fought. It seems only natural for a human being to ask questions, to search for, and if need be, to stand up for who they are. From the beginning we have longed to search for our beginning. We have longed to find our origin, our true self. We have ideals of better days, of better versions of ourselves, because deep down, I believe, we know that there is a “genesis” us, a core center where we can just be. The problem is, however, that we would, in essence, have to uncreate ourselves in order to find the beginning. We have learned realities that are sometimes too uncomfortable and difficult to unravel; we have been taught who we are through experience, whether good or bad, and have developed ideas of ourselves in our minds that are in some ways inconsistent, flawed, and deeply unhealthy. To unlive these realities seems nothing short of impossible. How does one forget the terrible things that have happened to them, the feelings of alienation, the bouts of insecurity, the distance and detriment of poisonous relationships? It is only through the miraculous power of mind regeneration (renewal of the mind) and, in my personal belief, the ability of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ the Son, to bring us back to the garden, our genesis.
My proposal is quite simple: There is a true being behind every individual that transcends feelings and emotions, happenstance and experience, and breaks through trivial ideas of identity derived from our work, our flawed perceptions, and our personality traits or tendencies. In order to live a life steady and strong, there must be a solid rock of identity that supports through the waves of life’s changes. If we live only by our feelings, which change from hour to hour, or by our situations, which vary day to day, then our sense of self will fluctuate in an a unhealthy way, leaving us only to be tossed to and fro by every gust of wind. A core self, however, is not shaken by strong gusts nor the heaviest of waves. It stands firm to face the teetering and fragile state of our emotions and thoughts, while still remaining flexible for growth and adaptation in different circumstances. A core self creates strong human beings. It creates individuals who understand their inherent value and worth, their God image, and their resilience through pressure and failure. It creates individuals who live not according to mountains and valley, highs and lows, but who live according to a rock-steady truth. The fact of the matter is that identity remains when life hits. True self is not changed according to the movement of circumstance, feeling and habit, it instead grows within these changes to present itself more worthy of trust. For when the change is over and the storm settles, one is stronger for standing firm to their core identity than if they shift according to the circumstance. Plainly speaking, when you stick to who you really are even when everything around you and in you is fluctuating, you come out with more perseverance and with a more defined character.
The question to ask at this time is now: How do I find this true self? This question is crucial simply because our core is buried beneath layers of pain, confusion, and shame. But treasure is always worth seeking despite the depth of the soil. The key to finding the true self lies, I believe, in releasing oneself from the burden of preconception and in holding loosely all of our formed beliefs. It is in coming back to the beginning, to experience our creator, that we find what we were created for. For who could know the extent of our existence more than the one who founded it. Yes, I am talking about God, and hopefully, not too abstractly. This God is Jesus, the word at the beginning, the one who breathed us into being and formed us from the clay of the ground. This God formed us in our mother’s womb, created us in his image, and spoke the stars into the sky; surely he has a voice in regard to our identity. Therefore, we should be determined to let go of who we think we are, in order to grasp who God our founder and image knows us to be. In his image, the father sees us as love, he sees us as creative, as powerful, as peaceful, as righteous, as good, as present, as worthy of honor, and with the capability to have dominion over that which was created for us, namely, the world. The mind too was created for the human being, itself being subject to our dominion if we would be so bold. If we would grab hold of these core attributes I do believe that we would see tremendous growth in our view of ourselves, our ability to love and relate to others, and in our presence in the world.
How can one continue in insecurity when true identity shows us that humans are loved and always accepted? How can someone treat others with malice and contempt if he/she is filled with the presence of God and all the fruits that come therewith? And how can a person not live out purpose and calling when they are influenced by a God who loves the poor and disenfranchised, a God who delivers those caught up in the traps of self-deception and debauchery in which we were once held? True identity propels us into compassion and grace for ourselves and our neighbor and gives us reason to make a difference in a world that suffers. It allows us to look in the mirror and see good and then take that good and see it in those around us. It inspires us to seek justice and freedom for those less fortunate and find true purpose in everything we do, whether it be in work, creativity, or mundane tasks. Core identity found in God leads us only to believe that we are created not just to exist, but to live abundantly, and if we are to live abundantly, we must let go of our present ideologies and come back to our first love, our truth.
So let us hold on with good faith those things that held us in the beginning. Let us dig deeper to find the “genesis” us, the us that was before the pain, the suffering, the lies, the distrust, the hopelessness, the emotions, the disconnection, and the shame. Only our creator can show us who we truly are. Only he can reveal to us our original purpose and making. It is imperative then that we enter into relationship with such a loving being, so that we may discover what has been known by him all along: that our identity is grounded in good soil with strong roots, that we are bound to love by chains inseverable, and that our lives are defined not by any external source or doing, but by the voice of the ageless one in us.
Abundant Living 