5:159 – Do you know your identities?

#faithbites #faithjourney indentities

Intro

Yestersay I attended a plenary by Dr. Juliana Mosley-Williams about Cultural humility. I want you to do the exercise she had us do. Take a picture right now. Yes, take a selfie. Do it. Now, look at it. What do you see? What identities do you see? Which ones don’t you see? All I could saw was I was in shock and didn’t know what I saw or what I was supposed to see. It made me more open to what identities I put on people regardless if it belongs to them.

Questions

• What identities are put on you by birth and which ones do you choose?
• How do they impact your path?
• What identity does God give you and do you own it?

Scripture

• Genesis 1:27 – So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
• 1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
• Ephesians 2:10 – For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Reflection

We live in a world where we want to put labels on everything. From gender to race, nationality to religion, behavior to socio-economic, and everything in between. Theses labels help us see the world but also cloud our vision and make us make mistakes.

Of all these identities, only one is given to all people, freely, and without expectation. That is as a child of God. God loves us, chooses us, and will walk with us for ever. No matter what we do we can’t lose his love nor can we earn it. It is who we are.

Imagine how the world would change if we saw that identitity first then all of the others. What would our interactions be like? Dr. Mosley-Williams said when yoh are talking to someone you aren’t talking to one person but 50 as they are a compilation of their life’s experiences.

As we close, remember that God called us to be his children. He commands us to love him and love our neighbors. That means to love them and all their identities. It makes us strong.

Prayer

Father God, thank you for calling us your children. Thank you for love us and giving us our first and most powerful identity. Lord, we ask that you help us see all of your children as your children and learn about them and all their identities. You formed us and made us who we are, let us appreciate and love one another. In your name, we pray, Amen.