Rooting Our Identity in Christ

​Today we will be starting a new Thursday series for the next few months about our identity in Christ. Throughout the Bible, we see statements about who we are. These are ways that God sees us and identifies us. While we have probably read these, maybe even many times, we have an enemy who likes to whisper lies, twist things, and make us forget who we really are. My hope is that in the next few weeks as we read these truths, dwell on them, and hopefully let them sink in a bit more, we will be equipped to live the abundant life He has called us to and move away from the insecurities and lies into His Truth.

As we prepare our hearts for what God has to show us about who we truly are and were created to be, there are a few things that we need to remember. First, as the title of this article and series says, ultimately we find our identity in Him. I’m reminded of John 15:4-5

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

We  are called to be in Him and He is in us. This abiding and dwelling is an important aspect of finding our identity in Him. If we are not dwelling in Him, as the verse says we can do nothing. This includes staying focused on who He has created us to be, and not getting distracted by so many other things that can throw us off course. 

This dwelling, or abiding, in Him, also means that we stay connected to Him. Staying connected means that we are able to better focus on Him and remember who He is. If we focus on our identity as a way to improve our lives or focus more on ourselves, we are more like the branches John describes in verse 6 when he says:

“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”

To continue the vine metaphor, our identity is rooted in Him. On our own we are a dried up branch not worth much of anything other than being blown about in the wind or burned up for fire. I’ve lived most of my life in the desert and tumbleweeds are not an unusual sight. They blow endlessly around the desert in whatever direction the wind takes them unless they happen to blow across the path of car and get hit and shattered into pieces. When we aren’t dwelling in Christ, we can easily become like those tumbleweeds and drift, get tossed around by life, and even hit out of nowhere by something that shatters us. 

We are who He has created and called us to be because of who He is. Dwelling in Him keeps us connected to our true roots. Each week as we look at a key aspect of our identity in Christ we will see that our identity comes from and is most secure when we keep our eyes focused on Him and who He is. 

I hope you will join me these next several weeks as we recognize the amazing vines He has created us to be as we strengthen our roots in Him.

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