The Truth Behind Your Identity

Embracing Life As A Nonconformist Through God's Image.

Introduction

Have you ever wondered why you are different? Have you ever thought that your true being had to be concealed because of what everyone else was doing? Whether we like to admit it or not, these are thoughts that plague the majority of people in this world and this is something I have dealt with myself. The internal war between submitting to conformity and embracing one’s uniqueness. There is a lie that humanity falls for that convinces us that joy and success is found in conformity. Looking back to examples from my childhood; I remember falling for these lies that led me into the bondage that triggered the peculiar human desire to want to be like the people I was surrounded by. Peer pressure had me doing foolish things such as stealing video games from the stores, buying X-Rated DVDs and getting drunk even at an age when I still had a bedtime. Back then I truly believed that where I found my high would be where I found my joy. Little did I know that these habits would creep into my adult life while being ignorant of how it was all conceived through childhood conformity. Unfortunately there are many people who are still living under the authority of conformity. So if this happens to be you, the goal of this letter is to recalibrate your belief system to the mind of the one who ordained your individuality.

The Source Of Every Bad Habit

Try and trace the source of every bad habit in your life today. I can almost guarantee that it originates from people triggering your desire to conform. This is completely in opposition to the notion that people trigger your intrinsic desire to be who you truly are by embracing your uniqueness. This is a divine attribute that only lies in the one who created and understands your individuality - God. We live in a world today where people have grown to build identities around behaviours that are sourced in worldly conformity and it shouldn’t be this way. Your identity should shape your behaviour; your behaviour shouldn’t shape your identity. Behaviour can’t be trusted especially when it can be traced back to an origin of human conventionality. The game changer is when you are able to separate your identity from your behaviour; no matter how terrible your habits are. Take these examples as references:

• Someone might have cultivated the habits of a fat and lazy couch potato. This has everything to do with conformity and absolutely nothing to do with their individual God given identity.

• Take the promiscuous person who is bound in perpetual cycles of failed relationships brought upon themselves. Is the source of their promiscuity inherent with who he/she might be on an intrinsic level? Or is it attached to learned behaviour patterns influenced by the toxicity of human nature?

The fact of the matter is that conformity to humanity will always lead to an identity crisis. For the most part you feel conflicted with what you do while being lost in who you are! Therefore the first step in returning to who you are comes at the point of realisation. This is when you are able to trace the source of what you do to anything that is outside of the nature of God. The real source of joy and success can’t be derived in your humanity because your flesh only knows one thing: conformity! I can assure you that this is not the realm where you are reconciled to the uniqueness of your soul.

The Source of Your Uniqueness

The source of your uniqueness is found in God. I firmly believe that a human being can only be one of two things. The first is that your identity is one of an image bearer of the most high God who created you with a unique purpose. The second is that you are a replica of the unrewarding customs and traditions of humanity. This nuance is the difference between bondage and freedom. It is the difference between hunger and satisfaction. You will never be truly free and satisfied with who you are until you are spiritually restored to your uniqueness as an image bearer of the most high God.

I struggled with this concept for several years because something within me was eager to be restored to my destiny but I was trying to find the answers in the fallible state of my humanity as opposed to finding it in God. I thought that if I tried hard enough I’d stop caring what people think. I thought that if I was disciplined enough to maintain a lifestyle free of bad habits then I could grow into the man I ought to be. This is what people do; they work to solve a problem. Unfortunately but fortunately the problem of having a misplaced identity cannot be worked out physically. This is why I constantly advocate for a christ centred approach to all forms of our growth. It might be unconventional or even hard to understand on the surface; but true change comes when you realise that the answers lie in him, not in yourself.

Divinity Revealed Through Humanity

If your identity is divine but your shortcomings are human, it can only take a mediator between the two realms to ensure everlasting restoration. What do I mean by this? God is the solution to every problem; therefore a fruitful life understanding who you truly are can only be lived and understood through him. That is why there has to be a mediator between God and man (and yes the mediator is Christ; fully God and fully man). The mediator has made a promise to restore humanity to its original identity which means that this is the true source of your uniqueness. This is very different to the carnal understanding of finding your identity in and through your behaviour. Therefore spiritual growth and a spiritual identity cannot be developed by the flesh but rather it is imputed onto the flesh through the mediator. The antidote to a misplaced identity is best represented through this Bible passage:

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

What Does This Mean?

1. This means that you have a divine identity through the source of creation itself.

2. This means that you don’t have to build an identity around who you’re not.

3. This means that you don’t live to please men who only know conformity.

4. This means that you can grow in your uniqueness and your authenticity.

5. This means that you are not a slave to toxic patterns of behaviour because the identity rooted in your behaviour has been crucified. (Galatians 2:20)

The truth about personal development is actually rooted in soul searching. You are trying to discover the best version of yourself through motivational and behavioural changes. But i’m here to tell you that the best version of yourself outside of your divine identity wouldn’t bring you the peace that your soul is so desperately searching for. Behaviour built on identity will always be more profitable to you than an identity built on behaviour. As a child of God you are a nonconformist. The patterns of this world have no authority over you. This freedom is a wonder to embrace. If you are not a child of God, through faith you can become one because you were made in the image of God and not of man (John 1:12-13). This is the identity that ultimately separates who you are from what you do.

Please share this with someone who needs to hear it. God bless!