Faith: What is my Identity?

The topic of identity fascinates me because of my background. I was adopted as a baby and when I was growing up I was not sure of my identity – I did not know if I was really a Kennedy (which is the name of my adopted family) or was I someone else?

Then I was confused by my nationality. I grew up in Northern Ireland, which is geographically part of Ireland as a whole but politically part of United Kingdom, so I never really knew if I was British or Irish?

This was also difficult because of the political divide in Northern Ireland itself, with the Protestants and Catholics – I grew up as a Protestant which in the eyes of Ireland makes me British but the British people would say I am Irish, so I never really knew what to introduce myself as to others, I now say I am Northern Irish, as that’s where I grew up so that’s what I am.

I struggled with this issue of identity for years, but then I became a Christian and started studying the bible and going to church, and through this I realised that my identity did not come from whether I was adopted or whether I was Northern Irish, those are just parts of who I am, but my identity is actually in Jesus Christ.

When I became a Christian I realised two things:

Firstly that I am a Child of God as it says in 1 John 3 vs 1-2 “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.”

And He did that when I trusted Him and not only that but he made me like Him, he gave me the identity of his family by making me His child. But making me like Him, well that’s still a work in progress – I have a long way to go yet!

And the second point is that I am God’s workmanship, as it says in Ephesians 2 vs 10 “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago”

So God created me into who I am today and before I was born he planned my life, for example he planned that I would be adopted,  that I would grow up in Northern Ireland, move to London, work as a Librarian and also that I would accept him into my life and live for him.

By the plans God has set out for me, it shows me that He loves me as an individual, not just as part of a corporate whole, and that He has given me unique gifts which make me who I am, and as Galatians 2 vs 20 says “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”

So as you can see I am a masterpiece, God’s masterpiece, and you can be one too.