“ASSUMING AN IDENTITY”
We hear a lot of warnings about identity theft in our society today. People wanting to steal other people’s identity for the purpose of hiding or profiting financially can create quite a few problems for people who have their identity stolen.
?
Once someone has successfully stolen our identity, we have to go through the process of changing all of our personal identification numbers and account numbers so that we can be ourselves once again. The fact that we, as a society, want everything to be convenient has made it so much easier to steal someone’s identity or at least their credit card and bank account numbers.
?
Many banks and credit card companies have a system in place that monitors activity across a person’s account and if anything suspicious appears, such as an extremely large amount spent at one time or a card trying to be used out of the home area, the transaction is often denied until the purchase can be verified. This has happened to me on several occasions while traveling. The first time we would stop to get gas, the card would be declined. The bank would send a text message and ask if it was really me making the purchase, and I would have to respond with yes. This is a safeguard, yet in this time of being in a hurry, I often find it inconvenient, as do the people waiting in line behind me!
?
This article, however, is not about identity theft, though we all would do well to be warned and be vigilant to protect ourselves, it is about the fact that we are called to assume a new identity.
?
领英推荐
First of all, we need to remember that we are all created in the image of God. Then the dirt of the world stains us, and our once childlike trust and thinking becomes tainted. As we grow, God wants us to recognize the fact that the world has made us different from what He has designed us to be. In that realization, we are to turn back to Him, allow the blood of His Son to cleanse us and bring us back to that pure state of being we were once in.
?
Now you might ask, “What in the world does all of this have to do with identity?” The answer is simple, God desires we assume His identity. Now does this make me God? No! It makes me a child of God and I am to display His likeness, or His identity, if you will, in all that I do in my life.
?
Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 5:48- "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Jesus also instructs in how we will be identified as His, John 13:34, 25- "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.?"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
?
I think from just these two passages, we can understand we are to assume the identity of our Lord and Savior! We must open our hearts and allow Him to dwell in us so that all we do in our lives reflects His love and glory. It is not stealing His identity, He has given us His identity and expects us to take and use it wherever we go!