“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.” ~Galatians 6:14

Perhaps what is so confusing about all of the talk of personal identity is that personal identity should never be about me. It doesn’t start with how God has designed me with a certain gift, passion, or personality. It doesn’t start with how I’ve proved to everyone—and to God—how resourceful I am, or what my contribution to the community is, or what a faithful friend I’ve been, or how many charities I funded, or that I’m a good return-on-God’s-investment. As for my identity, none of these matter; “neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything.”

What makes you valuable?

The servant has to work for money and value. The servant is only as valuable as his labor. The child’s value simply comes from belonging to her father. The smile on her father’s face and the father’s arm around her shoulder shouts how valuable she is. The servant doesn’t have that. The servant works to earn the blessing the child receives freely. The child ‘is’ valuable, and the blessings flow from her value.

But what are we to do; we are born far from God’s house—strangers and enemies, the Bible calls us? God only has one Son (John 3:16). Only one Son comes from within him, and can relate fully to him. Only one Son is born of Spirit, and can walk into any room in his Father’s mansion. Jesus has full access to the Father’s blessings, power, compassionate mercies, perfect justice, accurate perception, and impossible patience. Jesus said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:11). So how do I become a child of God and experience an identity shift from self to Father’s child?

New Creation

The Apostle Paul said in his second letter to the Corinthians, “if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation” (5:17). It sounds so similar to our verse here in Galatians, “What counts is the new creation.” Only by dying to myself, am I in Jesus. Where was Jesus?—In the Father! Where is the Holy Spirit?—in me. Soooo…the Holy Spirit is in me, while I am in Jesus, in the Father. The Holy Trinity has enveloped his church and is melding us together into himself—a totally new chemical compound. Holy Spirit—in me—in Jesus—in the Father (John 14:20).

Knowing who I am doesn’t start with knowing me, it starts with knowing Jesus. The Father will always invite you to come and die on the cross with Christ. “The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” That is the way Father loves his children. The way to fullness is to empty ourselves. Through the weakness of our powerlessness we find his strength. Through the insufficiency of our knowledge we find his wisdom. Through our humiliation we find his worth. If we cling to what we possess we’ll have no room to possess the fullness of God.

The greatest decision the believer makes is the daily decision to dethrone themselves and to boast in Christ. We don’t realize we have nothing but debts to offer him. He has adopted our debts in order to adopt us. We have nothing to offer him, yet God truly loves us!

Who am I?—It doesn’t matter who I am. Let me show you Christ; I am in him. I am loved perfectly through him. We are loved perfectly by the Father. We are lovely in him. He is perfect in us!

Loved Because of Your Love

Can you picture the forgiven woman bent over Jesus’ feet sobbing with thanksgiving. And across the table sat Simon the Pharisee; he thought he had so much to offer God. She knew she had nothing. Yet Jesus slyly shifted the focus off their efforts. He told the parable of two debtors, one was forgiven much and one was forgiven little. “Which one loved more,” he probed. “I suppose the one who was forgiven much,” came the reply. Jesus shifted the language of what made them valuable. It wasn’t the repayment of debts; it was how greatly they loved.

What makes you valuable to God. We are all equally indebted and equally paid for. So then what makes you valuable to God? Your love! The Father loves you. Your identity isn’t in what you offer God, it’s in the thankful love you offer God as his precious child.

Tags: identity, self, inheritance, loved, valuable, crucified with christ