What I want to talk about is His Love and how it activates identity! True identity is who He calls us; what He names us. He is our father-the father of all names. He names us. Then Jesus calls us into our names. He, through His Holy Spirit, whispers syllables of our names to us, so that we continue to incarnate these names. We are, who He calls us. Our true selves are in this intimate whispering dialogue between Our Maker and us.
To know ourselves, then begins, with reaching out to know our Origin—the one who fashioned us in the womb, as David puts it. Everyone wants to know their true name—it is a very deep instinct within us all. We try to find jobs and task in the world which match who we are. Often though, we go about this identity quest backwards!
We seek in external roles, who we are internally. The fact is He knit us together, and then called us to walk out into the tasks along the path of who we are. Who we are comes before what we do. What we do is actually an expression of who we are. And the way to know this first principle of identity, is to seek to know and love God, in His Identity! To know thyself begins with getting to know who God really is, as we do, our own unique identity is revealed within the context of our loving relationship with God. His love for who we really are, activates and calls forth our true identities! Let God name you in His Love- the inner security which comes from this being named by Father, never ends, and stabilizes our beings in Him! We are then, safe to be. And have this courage to be instilled.
We do not name ourselves. God names us. So we come to Him to learn our names. This is fundamental on the quest for authentic living. We first seek out Our Maker, because He knows our actual name. As we enter into this quest to know ourselves by knowing Him, we start to live more in the contours of our true selves. We come to the Great Namer, and ask Him our name. Who do you call me, Lord? That’s who I actually am. Ani who you name me. And this name has been there is His Heart forever. He imagined you before you were here. You exist in Him; so He is the right place to seek out and begin to embody who you truly are.
Everyone wants to know themselves. There are many ways to seek to know yourself. The best way, is to come to Your Father and ask Him to show you. What we find when we approach God, is love. Because He is love. So once we encounter His Loving self, we are safe and free to be told who we are. He will reveal us to ourselves! And since, Love is the atmosphere of God, we are safe to become who He says we are! For, the atmosphere of God is a safe haven to explore and become more of who we are.
Just as Peter was told who He was, once He saw who Jesus is; so we, need first to be shown who God is, and then we will be named or told who we are. This is the great identity dialogue between us and Our Father. The great loving revealing of who we are in Him.
We are beloved because the Father has already spoken this over His Son, who is in us. Then also, we are the nuanced beloved. We are the particularly loved. We each are a unique poem (Eph 2:10) that God celebrates. In general, we, in Him are all beloved, yet God’s love is particular. It is styled towards individuals! It applies itself into particular situations. Love is never generalized. It is incarnated to specific creatures. God is love, but He loves particularly! So we are specifically beloved in a unique way for each person. That is one of His wonders—that He can BE love, and yet love each creature in a unique way!
We are generally children of God, but as in a family, each child is specifically loved and named! So we are more than just children of God, we are each a particular member of His Family, who He loves in a particular manner. It is good to know, we are His children, and brothers and sisters of Jesus; it is deeper to know what type of child, and what type of brother or sister we are. What are His specific thoughts and feelings towards “just us”! His love will begin to reveal to us who we specifically are. And this is how identity becomes part of our journey to know and love our Maker.
