Identity

Who am I?

Intorvert. Shy. Perfectionist.

For the longest time these adjectives have shaped me and resulted in various expressions to a degree I do not still fully realize. As a result,

• I struggle in connecting with people and making friends
• I give up easily if it can not be done perfectly
• I am hypercritical of my failures, beating myself up over them
• I can be hard on others, holding them to the same unrealistic expectations of perfectionism
• I tend to focus on the negative rather than the positive

But then I come to Scripture.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 3:1–14 (ESV)

Who am I?

Chosen. Forgiven. Adopted. Blessed. Sealed. Inheriter.

The Apostle Paul got it; understanding His identity in Jesus Christ. Consider his words in Philippians 3:

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:3–11)

I still struggle daily with my introverted and perfectionistic tendencies; sometimes to an almost crippling degree. I’m in the process of working through the root sins contributing to these behaviors (e.g. pride and arrogrance). As I continue to grow in Jesus Christ, I want to be defined by Him- for the glory of His Name and the furthering of His Kingdom.