Identity Statements

Identity.  What is it?  Well, I checked out the tried and true Webster's 1828, and that really didn't help.  Something about sameness out of much diversity or something like that...  Anyways, I have been confronted with specific issues of accepting myself for who I am and learning who I am.  Sounds to me a lot like my identity.  Who am I?  What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses? What do I like to do to relax? What pushes my buttons? How do I express emotions? Why do I react the way I do?  These are tough questions, but in reality they need an answer.

In the past few months, particular circumstances have led me down a path of "personal" development (kind of like professional development, but different...haha).  I have been introduced to successful people that now teach others how to be successful.  I have looked at it through my heavily, guarded Christian worldview.  I am not into get rich quick schemes or my way of living.  As I listened and researched, I noticed that everything they were saying made sense.  Saying positive things to yourself outloud long enough, you start to believe them.  So all of the negative self-talk that we say in order to justify our 1behavior can be retrained by inserting the positive things.  

So on this Made to Crave journey. the best thing to know is not just my identity, but my identity in Christ.  When you team up with the Lord and know what His opinion of you is, nothing else matters.  He has some pretty awesome things to say about each one of us.

Personally, my list would begin like this:

Amanda~You are worthy of love (That's what "Amanda" means)~Matthew 6:25-26
God feeds the birds and dresses the flowers; are you not of more worth than these? (my paraphrase)

Amanda~You are loved. (Romans 5:8)

Amanda~You are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139)

Amanda~You are a living sacrifice. (Romans 12:1-2)

Amanda~You are a princess or co-heir of the kingdom. (Romans 8:17)

Amanda~You are a new creature. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Amanda~You are praised. (Proverbs 31:30)

Amanda~You have a purpose. (1Corinthians 10:31) Do what you do, eating or drinking, for the glory of God (my paraprase).

I ran across this post Who I am in Christ which lists many more identity statements in Christ.  I plan to print these statements and full verses and say them aloud every morning.  It sounds like one more thing to the "To Do" list, but from what I have heard it is worth it.  We can't be like Him, if we don't know Him.

For the Glory of God, 

The best way to renew your mind and experience inner transformation is by knowing, thinking, and speaking who you are in Christ.