Glorify His Name: Your identity and purpose

The value of identity of course is that so often with it comes purpose. ~Richard Grant

Yesterday I had the incredible privilege to take some time out and just sit and talk with one of the other young women in our church. It was an awesome time of fellowship by which I was incredibly blessed.

After a long time of talking to her about my health journey, she asked, “Have you ever thought about soul-searching?”

I asked her what she meant by this and she replied, “You know, figuring out who you are and what you’re meant to do.”

I spilled out the first things that came to my mind. I instantly noted that these words were not my own. They were of a wisdom I could only attribute to God.

It dawned on me that this was something which God had been teaching me over the past year. It wasn’t until I was asked about it that I was able to verbalise this.

And this is what He told us as we sat together yesterday:

Your identity is in Christ

When I first became a Christian four and a half years ago and my wounds were still fresh, I saw a Christian counselor. He told me that my real struggle was that I didn’t know who I was; it was a type of identity crisis. He then said that if I wanted to find my identity, I needed to look no further than the identity of Christ.

Have you ever read the story of creation in the Bible? Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

That includes you.

You were created in the image of God; to be like Christ. If you want to know who you are and were created to be, you just need to know who Jesus is.

Read up about Him in your Bible. Begin with one of the gospels (John is a good place to start). Or perhaps you could enlist the help of a study guide like The Essential Jesus. When you stop seeking yourself and seek Him instead, you will find yourself in the process.

Your purpose is to glorify God

If we were made to be like Christ, it follows that His purpose is ours too. To discover our purpose on this earth, we must discover why He came to earth.

It was to glorify God. We know this because, just before His death, Jesus says, “But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” (John 12:27b-28a)

Jesus came seeking the glory of the One who sent Him (John 7:18). He came to deliver us and forgive our sins for the sake of God’s name just as the Psalmist asked (Psalm 79: 9).

There is no question of our purpose: it is to glorify God.

God’s will is simple

Glorify Him in all that you do (1 Corinthians 10:31, 1 Peter 4:11). We can do this by obediently following Him through knowing and loving Him.

• Know Him. You’ve probably heard it before: “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. ” (Proverbs 3:6 ESV).It’s a scripture of great promise and I cling to it often but earlier today I saw another translation (Young’s Literal Translation). It reads, “In all thy ways know thou Him, And He doth make straight thy paths.”Know Him. I just love that! God is asking us to take time to get to know Him. He is telling us that a deep relationship with Him will breed obedience.

• Love Him. In Matthew 22:37 Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Deuteronomy 6:5). This and loving our neighbours as ourselves, He says, are what all the law hangs upon (Matthew 22: 39-40).In other words, if we do these things, we will be fulfilling the law in full.

So it’s simple really. God provides us with all the answers in His Word. The next time you find yourself having an identity crisis and want to do some soul-searching, look no further than the Bible.

Seek Jesus and you will find yourself. Know God and love Him; you will not fail to fulfill your purpose to glorify Him.

There is a quote by Robert Brault that says, “Never mind searching for who you are. Search for who you aspire to be.” My question to you is: Who do you aspire to be? Are you seeking Him or something else?

If you need help seeking Jesus, let us know by commenting below. Let us support you and pray for you along your journey.