A Renewed Identity
At the Forge gathering the other night, we began a series on the work of renewal that God does in our lives. God brings His renewing presence and love into our lives to transform and bring to completion the work that only He can do. But this also requires us to desire renewal, to count the cost, to surrender our whole selves to him in trust of his goodness, faithfulness and love.
Carmen spoke about how Christ does this in the very core of who we are through a renewal of our identity. She used the illustration of a Christmas Tree mosaic made with pieces of broken tile to describe the construction of our identity. We can often lose sight of the essential identity of a tree because of the decorations that we place upon it which reveal how we want people to see us, and sometimes the ways we don’t want people to see us. These decorations don’t just happen to appear in our lives. They are a result of the kind of soil that we have our selves rooted in (Luke 6:43–49).
The soil of our lives is the part we don’t usually see. It is a mixture of our past wounds and brokenness, the attitudes and desires we curate, and the lies and truths that we believe about ourselves and the larger story of human existence. It is the place of the soul where renewal is needed.
A few questions for reflection:
What is in the soil of your life that is affecting your identity in healthy and unhealthy ways?
What are the pieces of your past or former identity before Christ that like to creep up or try to come back at times?
Where are you aware of false identities or ways of being (decorations) that need to experience the renewing work of Jesus?
What is an area of identity growth that you are sensing Jesus inviting you into in this current season of your life?
For further exploration of our identity in Christ, check out Ephesians 2:1–10 (the entirety of the letter to the Ephesians speaks to this), and 1 Peter 1:9–10. Both of these passages give us a few solid identity pieces that we can build a solid foundation upon.
