Authentic Self: Week 2

Identity is received, not achieved.

Your sense of identity will impact every other decision you make in life. We often make our desires, our "sovereign self" as Tim Keller calls it, the driving force of our identity. We focus on our deepest desires, and they can define our happiness and who we think we are. We make our identity all about "living our best life" or discovering our "authentic self" and shape our identity around these ideals. But what happens when our goals, our dreams, our aspirations get blocked? What happens when things change and shift, and we discover certain goals are not attainable? Does our identity crumble?

And in spite of what the culture around you wants you to think, achieving your loftiest goal does not fulfill you. It does not complete your identity-it lets you down. Your deepest desires could be blocked, or they could end up being unfulfilling. In truth, we need to discover a deeper, truer sense of who we are, and the answer is in the God Who created us. Our identity must be defined by Him and who He says we are.