Pseudonym

Ever wrestled with identity?

Have you asked yourself 'who am I really?'

I think it's a question that everyone has had to work through, and maybe numerous times, and maybe even on an ongoing manner.  And it can become quite a depressing journey, especially if you see your shortcomings and can't seem to change your habits.

I titled this little message 'pseudonym' because it has something to say about our identity.  A pseudonym is a name that a person picks for themselves that isn't their real name.  Authors are often times the ones that use this for a variety of reasons. For example, in the early 20th century, female authors would sometimes choose a male name in order for their books to gain a wider readership.  Their writing was their own, truly from them, but their public identity was not really who they were.

If you are a follower of Jesus then you need to hear this because you might be struggling to know who you really are.  You have a public life. . the life that includes your choices, your habits, your vocation, your accomplishments and your failures.  All the things that go into what you present to the world. . .in your mind, this is really YOU.  But that isn't really who you ARE. 

You see, what you do is not the foundation of who you are.  Why?  Because Jesus has changed all that.

Galatians 2:20 says: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in my body, I live by faith in the Son of God. . ."

When you allowed Jesus to forgive your sins He did that but so much more.  He also made you someone entirely different.  When scripture says that you are made as a new creation in Christ, it is meant to be taken literally and seriously.

So what should you take from this that would be helpful today?

Maybe just this one thing:  Your fundamental identity in Jesus is not based on your choices, your habits, your desires, your life-path, your win/loss column, your successes/failures, your public standing/stumbling, your healthy self-image or your self-loathing.  These things are the sum total of your pseudonym life.  Your real identity is now Jesus.  Note I didn't say that your life is now found in
Jesus, but your life is Jesus.  His identity is now your identity.

Jesus is stable, righteous, dependable, able to walk the path of true life, discerns and judges everything in the right way that makes room for good and goodness.  He is everything right and just and loving.  And His identity is now your identity.

Just let that sink in for you. . .your fundamental identity is no longer based on all those things that you feel you have to present to the world around you, but is instead established in the One Who is entirely good and desires for you to live in that goodness.

What a feeling.

I hope that today you see and experience the freedom of coming out from behind your pseudonym life and embrace your true identity in Christ.  When you do, you will live freedom like never before!

B