Identity Amnesia

By Scott Stake

Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting with a couple who are continually looking for ways to disciple their teenage daughter and some of her friends. Of all the things they mentioned in this effort, their greatest desire was for these precious girls to understand their identity in Christ. In other words, "Who am I in Christ?" Wow, what a great endeavor!

This couple recognized that we are always assigning to ourselves some kind of identity, and it is out of this identity that we live our lives. As Christians, we have been given an identity that should shape everything about us. We are children of God, or as the apostle John often called us, "the Beloved." (I'm even convinced that one of the reasons why John used the title "the one whom Jesus loved" was not just a humble way of referring to himself, but also because that was his core identity.)

The problem is that we sometimes have "identity amnesia," as Paul Tripp calls it. We forget who we are, and when we do, we give way to doubt, fear, anger, anxiety, and restlessness. He states: "Identity amnesia makes you feel poor when in fact you are rich. It makes you feel foolish when in fact you are in a personal relationship with the One who is wisdom. It makes you feel unable when in fact you have been blessed with strength. It makes you feel alone when in fact, since the Spirit lives inside of you, it is impossible for you to be alone. You feel unlovable when in fact, as a child of the heavenly Father, you have been graced with eternal love. You feel like you don't measure up when in fact the Savior measured up on your behalf. Identity amnesia sucks the life out of your Christianity in the right here, right now moment in which all of us live."

Four Oaks, if you've forgotten your identity, I encourage you right now to behold Christ, to remember that in Him you've been forgiven, accepted, cleansed, adopted, and loved. You are the Beloved, God's chosen child, upon whom the Father has set his affections.

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are."  1 John 3:1-2