Who am I?

                  Who am I? When we first meet, what is something that I will quickly let you know about me? For a lot of us it will be our job, what we do for a living. Often that is one of the things I will ask a new acquaintance: “What do you do?” Or sometimes that might be “What did you do?” There are a lot of retired people in my neighbourhood.

                  Is that my identity – what I do, or did, for a living? It takes up a lot of hours in my week, so it’s not surprising that it is important, but do I really want it to be my identity? Yes I am proud of what I do but no, I do not want it to be my identity.

                  There are many other things that you will quickly learn about me: that I was born and raised in the UK, that I am an active person, that I am happily married and have been for a long time. Also I love dogs, live close to the country, and I like to read and write. But perhaps the most important thing about me, which I will not quickly tell someone I have just met, is that I know I am loved by God, and in return I love God. It’s not that I don’t want to tell people, I just don’t want to scare them away from building a relationship with me. When I meet a new person at the club where I play pickle ball, I would love to inform them that Jesus means so much to me, but I’m concerned that if I did they might not want to talk any further. So I’ll talk about my dog instead, and hope that at a later time I might have the opportunity to share about what really is important to me.

                  I could say that my true identity is a child of God. I belong to God. I am loved by him. That is so cool, so wonderful. I’m smiling as I write about this because it makes me happy. Do I deserve this identity? Did I work hard in order to earn it? No and no. It was a gift, a gift that I greatly appreciate.

                  I chose my words carefully there. I didn’t want to say that my identity was as a Christian, because so many do not properly understand what that word means. There is another way that I might put it though. My identity is as a person who has been made right. I read it again today in my bible, and I want to live by the truth that I find there. It’s in the book of Romans. I have a new translation, which I find very helpful. When I read something again and again using the same words I sometimes loose the full meaning. In a new translation it comes alive again for me. First of all we are told that through the disobedience of one person many received the status of ‘sinner’. That doesn’t mean that we all become sinners because Adam blew it, but rather that sin came into the world when Adam made his poor choice, and then we all sinned, and death spread to everyone. So it could be said that if you are not a Christian, your identity is a sinner, someone who misses the mark. Not the most exciting identity. The question is do we continue with this identity once we repent and give our lives to the Lord?

                  Paul clearly states that this is not the case in the book of Romans. Back to my new translation, it says that through the obedience of one person many will receive the status of ‘in the right’. In my other version it says that because of what Jesus has done many will be made righteous. In the right, righteous, they both sound pretty good to me. That’s my identity now. I’m no longer considered to be a sinner, but I am made righteous.

                  It would be a lie to say that I have stopped messing up since I became a Christian. I have missed the mark many times, although as I continue my walk with the Lord that happens less and less often. It is not inevitable that I do the wrong thing. I love that in the first letter of John it says if we sin then Jesus will plead our cause before the father. It does not say when we sin, but if we sin. Missing the mark is not inevitable. So if I mess up, Jesus will help me put it right. And with his help I am not bound to do the same wrong thing again and again. I love that.

                  So who am I? I am a person who has been made right by what Jesus did for me. I have been brought into the family of God and I belong there. I’m happy with that identity.