Devotion 11 – Be Secure in our Identity

2 Sam.2:1 - “It happened after this that David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “Where shall I go up?” And He said, “To Hebron.”

King Saul died when David was about thirty years of age. He had four sons but sadly three of them died in battlefield with him. Ishboseth remained but he was not a warrior and had no gifts of leadership, thus, he had no following among the people of Israel. All Israel knew that David was the right person to be their king. Nevertheless, David refused to overthrow him; he waited for the season of God’s promotion.

He did not fight for the kingship even though he already knew his destiny from his youth – that he will be anointed as king over Israel by Samuel the prophet (1Sam.16:13). He could have interpreted the death of Saul as the indication that God had made a way for him to be king over Israel, but he didn’t. He was secure in his identity and sought the heart of God. He was not out to fulfil his destiny, but rather the perfect will of God. When we are secure about our identity, we do not need to fight for position to give us an identity.

Jesus & His Identity

Lk.2:42 – “And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast… And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

At the age of twelve, Jesus knew his identity. However, he continued to spend the next eighteen years of his life in silently and hidden, working as a carpenter. His security and identity were not wrapped up in what he did. It is amazing that the Son of God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth lived ninety per cent of his life without revealing his true identity. Yet, after Jesus’ water baptism, God the Father said that He was pleased with Jesus, though up till then, Jesus had not performed any miracles or won any souls.

Matt.3:17 – “And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Lover before Worker

We need to recognise that our obedience is not to gain God’s love, but rather, obedience is an expression of our love. We are to be “romance” warriors; we fight for His kingdom because we are deeply in love with the King.

When we are not secure in our identity in Christ, we will always want to do something so that we can be someone. In His kingdom, God wants us to be someone (relationally oriented first) before we do something (accomplishment oriented). While God is concerned about fruitfulness and productivity, but we are always His primary concern. God is not an army general who is prepared to sacrifice us as soldiers to win the battle. He is fighting this battle for us – we are His goal.

It is extremely important that our work should flow out of who we are. With identity that is not secured in Christ, we will work to feel important and to appear significant in the eyes of others. Many a times our motives for service are corrupted. We work hard to achieve success and to prove our worth, and thus we are depleted, and we burn out quickly. Instead, we should work from a position of success (knowing Him and who we are in Him) to achieve success. We have nothing to prove, we are loved by an Infinite God.

Therefore, it is important for us to shape our identity; otherwise, it will shape us!

False Affirmation and Acceptance

Those with an orphan spirit are always striving and trying to earn the Father’s love through their accomplishment in career or ministry. Constantly, we attempt to accomplish great things to satisfy the deep yearning in our hearts for approval. This causes us to be driven to succeed instead of being led by the Spirit. If we are not reflective and careful, we can be serving God out of ambition rather than obedience. Driven by our own innate feeling of inadequacy, we try to medicate our deep internal alienation through physical stimulation, pleasure or pain.

Those with an orphan spirit are constantly trying to contain their sense of alienation, loneliness and lack of self-worth through constant work, going from one relationship to the next, physical gratification and a life of narcissism and self-indulgence. However, the more we indulge, the more addicted we become, and the larger the hole in our heart becomes because only the love of the Father can fill the deep emotional needs we have.

On the other hand, those walking in sonship already know they are accepted in Christ, and therefore, are able to serve others out of the abundance of this acceptance, basking in the presence and love of God, and strengthened by the continuous joy of the Lord. They understand that grounding their security and self-life in anything other than God is like trying to build a house on sinking sand.

Inferior identity vs. Superior identity

Sadly, many of us, after the born-again experience, continue to be more conscious and concerned about our worldly identity than our spiritual identity. We continue to love the inferior identity more than the superior identity!

We are sons and daughters of God, our relationship to God is not based on what we do; it is based on who we are. If we are not truly secure in that position, we will always try to establish our identity in the world, through our achievement, our possession, our appearance, our ministry function, etc. We will try to get significant and make ourselves secure in our worldly identity, which is far inferior to our spiritual identity.

We are precious children of God, defined by our heavenly Father and Him alone. We should not be defined by the opinions of others, and we should stop accepting what others say about us or label us. If we are not secure by who we are with God, we will remain vulnerable for others to define us. We need to settle it, because this “identity issue” is an important part of living the abundant life.