Who am I?

Do you ever find it difficult to remember your identity as a child of God? Or how easy it is to become burdened by your flaws or mistakes and let them define you?

I often feel like I’m walking along a road with puddles and I can’t help but keep getting splashed with mud. Whether it’s a day where I wake up on the wrong side of the bed or I feel like a failure and the past seems to come and haunt me no matter how hard I try to avoid it.

Sometimes it just seems hard to remember who I’m supposed to be.

I think the solution lies in a familiar passage of scripture. It’s so familiar that I think we’ve missed how profound it is. I know I have.

“Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Luke 18:17 (ESV)

How does becoming like a child tie in with our identity?

Think about young children. Are they defined by their failures? Do they dwell on them? Do they even remember them?

Their entire framework is “mommy and daddy love me”, “I’m safe”, and “when can I go play now?”.

There have been times, as a father, when I feel like I’ve messed up big time, or I haven’t been as good of a dad as I should have been that day. What has blown me away was not only how quick they were to forgive me, but that they didn’t even hold it against me. Because they know deep down that I love them, and they love me.

Or if one of them is having a drawn-out temper tantrum about something that didn’t go their way, they let the emotion out, and when they are done, they don’t even appear to remember that it happened. They don’t let it affect the rest of their day and are playing as carefree as if it’s the best day in the world.

I think it’s because they don’t let what happens to them override who they are. Who they are is loved. Where they are is home. What they are is safe and secure. What they do is play and enjoy.

If something happens that they don’t like, or something doesn’t go their way, they feel the emotions of it, but they don’t let it change how they think of themselves.

I am reminded of one time when I had a bad “Dad” day. You know what I’m talking about? I just didn’t feel great, and I just knew I didn’t give it my best. I felt like I failed, and in the deepest moment of my own self-pity, my daughter looked at me and said “Daddy, I love you. I think you’re the best Daddy in the whole world”.

What a precious and gentle reminder of the Father’s love for us! A love that transcends what we think about ourselves that cuts to the core of our identity: that we ARE loved.

No matter what you think about yourself, or how unloved you feel, you are worthy of the Father’s love. Don’t worry about making life more complicated than that. You are loved. You are safe. God has you. And because of this, you can be free to love and live joyfully unrestrained, playing and enjoying life as a child does with no care in the world.

This is who you are.