Find your identity in Christ

GREETINGS in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. A few months ago, we experienced a heat wave right here in Zimbabwe and a huge fuss was made about that. Now we are in winter and it has been one of the coldest winters that we have ever experienced as a nation.
Seasons come and go, each one with its own experiences.

I might not know which season you are in right now, good or bad, but God stays true.
We have defined identity as the distinct personality of an individual, regarded as a persisting entity or the individual characteristics by which a person is recognised.

There are many ways of identifying people, for example gender, skin colour, character, age, nationality, religion and even their actions.

As a Christian, no matter in which bracket you fall, you have to identify yourself with Christ.
This is where many young people face challenges. It might be because they are still impressionable and are still on the path of self-discovery.
Some young people in the scriptures faced the same situations, for instance, a young man called David.

The first time we hear of David in 1 Samuel 16, he had been left out of a meeting with Samuel the prophet. His own father had denied him and had not seen it fit for him to be part of such an important occasion.
Yet God had chosen him and David ends up getting anointed by Samuel. David being the youngest was kept busy tending to the flock of the family.

When the time for war came, he was left at home while his elder brothers went to fight.
ln 1 Samuel 17, the giant man of war, Goliath, challenges Israel for a fight. No one stood up, not even the king. However, David says in 1 Samuel 17 v 26, " . . . for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?"

David was uneducated, he was a young man, he was not his father's favourite son, in fact he was not even a soldier. All of the experienced men around him were fearful and the atmosphere around was dire, yet David refused to identify with that.
Consider Shadreck, Misheck and Abednego in Daniel 3. The king made a golden image and commanded that at the sound of the trumpet, everyone was to bow to the image.

All those who did not heed to the call would be thrown into fire as punishment. The three Hebrew boys did not bow down. This was not a simple matter.

The highest authority had called for a national feast and all of the powerful people on Earth at the time were there. The best musicians in the world were there, the best food in the world was being served.

In addition, there was debauchery and drunkenness. Moreover, there were sexual orgies everywhere. Many of their peers and elders bowed but these boys chose not to identify with what was around them.

Identity is formed as one grows and is a function of the surroundings.
Some will say that I did not know my parents or I was rejected as a child. Some will say that I grew up with negative influences around me or that there are no positive examples or influences to identify with.

David was not his father's favourite, rather, his father was ashamed of him. His brothers despised him, yet in the middle of all this negative energy and influence, David chose not to be identified by that.

The three Hebrew boys had been taken away from their families into a foreign land as slaves. They had been castrated and were now being forced to follow another religion and a new code of ethics, yet they refused to identify with that.

I encourage you to identify with Jesus Christ in all you do.
In whatever situation you face, let the Christ in you rise forth.

Identify with Him in sorrow, joy, pain or victory. With God by your side, you will be victorious.
Take care and God bless.

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