Where do we find our identity? Is it in what we own, where we work, or the people we hold most dear? In 2 Peter 2:9, we are told that we “are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession…” In Genesis 1:26, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” In both these verses, we not only find our creation in the very image and nature of God, but we find that we were chosen to be separated and consecrated from the world. Our identity is found in who God made us and saved us in himself.
I personally struggle to find my identity away from the people around me, especially those close to me. I often will allow their opinions to rule and dictate my life. They become my personal gods that hold all the power over my existence. I begin to trust what they say about me more than what God says about me. Those people and objects that I allow to have control over me and to take my focus off God have a name… idols.
In Exodus 20:3, the first commandment states, “ You shall have no other gods before me.” Idols are anything that take our eyes and hearts off God and put them on objects. The Israelites established a golden calf at the foot of the same mountain where Moses was receiving the law. How are we to believe that idols are not equally as present in our daily lives?
When we think of idols in our day and time, we think of fancy new cars, roomy mansions, or maybe even a financial windfall, but I can assure you idols are closer than they appear. Idols can be the very blessings of God. We adore the relationships that God puts in our path. Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, spouses, close friends; anyone and anything can become an item of worship. But the more we listen to opinion rather than standing in the truth of God’s Word, the more we bow down and worship the blessings God has richly poured out on us and hear little from God. We make people BIG, and God small. We serve “the creature rather than the Creator.” (Romans 1:25) If our identity is to be in God, we must nurture that relationship. He chose us to be a people for his own possession. He made us to be in his nature. However, he also gave us the choice to respond in worship. When we find our identity in him and not in who we listen to, what we have, or what we can accomplish, we are worshiping God. So, now I ask, where did you find your identity?