…being found in (Jesus), not having a righteousness of my own that comes from keeping a list of rules (religious characteristics), but that which comes through faith in Christ. Philippians 3:9
Last time we looked at 2 questions establishing the healthy identity that is needed for kindness to fill our lives. 1. ‘Am I loved by God?’ 2. ‘Am I loved by others’. Today we’ll look at a 3rd question ‘Who am I?’ Apart from roles I play; apart from titles people call me, apart from things I do, who am I really?
‘Who am I?’ is a question usually associated with kids in their teens trying to figure out the imponderables of life; the question is dismissed as an adolescent heart-palpitation. But our identity is important to God and it’s an area that virtually all advertisers, all employers/schools, all churches/clubs attempt to engineer and exploit. They know something we don’t: If they can define our identity, you and I will belong to them and they will control us.
What do they drive us to look for our identity in? What we wear; What we buy; Who we associate with; How we use our time (that’s a biggie); What we see in the mirror. What other people will think (as if everyone is thinking about us in the first place!).
Even as Christians who walk in the Spirit, our identity is often about religious characteristics. I travel a lot and I meet a lot of wonderful Christians. I can tell you the first questions Christians always ask: Where we go to church; what denomination/non denomination are we; What’s our political stance on a social issue (including Israel); What about school… Do you see where this is going? We identify each other by our religious characteristics instead of being in Christ.
So it’s no wonder we (Christians and non-Christians alike) are challenged when it comes to defining our identity. Any identity that is based on this earth will leave us dry and empty because we are not of this world (1 Pet 2:11).
So who are we? We are God’s uniquely crafted workmanship (Eph 2:10); Jesus is our life (Col 3:4); We are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor 5:21); We are joined to Jesus and are one spirit with Him (1 Cor 6:17); We are God’s special possession, a royal priesthood (1 Pet 2:9); We are seated with Jesus in heavenly places (Eph 2:6); We are complete in Jesus (Col 2:10).
That’s just the high-level summary. As uniquely crafted by God, we’re distinctive. We’re not made to be like anyone else, let alone be like everyone else. Our identity is hidden with God in Jesus (Col 3:3) so that we will find our fulfillment in our oneness with Him and not in the things that advertisers, employers/schools, churches/clubs engineer and exploit.
So what’s this got to do with a spirit of kindness with us? Fact is, without being grounded in who we are in Jesus, kindness will elude us…it will be self-serving at worst, good intention at best. We really need to identify with Jesus if we are to show His kindness.