Soul-Identity!

May 27, 2021

Soul-Identity!

Who are you?  I mean scrape off all the layers you want others to see and then a few of the layers below that and who are you.  Really!  Who are you so deep down inside your soul that Jesus is the only other person who has ever seen the real you?

Much of our identity is formed by family, friends, and culture.  Teachers, coaches, and our own choices also shape our identity.  But, what if you do not like who you have become.  Can you and I re-shape and re-mold and re-define our soul-deep identity?

Before that shift can happen, it is necessary to remember who shaped my soul-identity in the first place.  In Ephesians 1:4 the Apostle Paul writes; “Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people.”

Before there was even a world, Jesus had already chosen your soul-identity.  Jesus shaped you and made you to live a life of holiness, to have a heart of innocence, and to love other people.  Our soul is molded by Jesus.

When we live with Jesus in our heart and in our life, our soul-identity is defined by some blending of those three elements; holiness, innocence, and love.  If you peeled back enough of the layers with which you have covered who you really are, that’s what you would see.  And yet, it is pretty easy to drift away from that soul-identity.

Long before Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians, the writer of the Psalms reflected upon our soul-identity, too.  In Psalm 139:13-14 he writes; “You (the Lord God) are the one who put me together inside my mother’s body, and I praise you because of the wonderful way you created me.”

When Jesus peers into the depth of your soul, Jesus sees the wonder and the awe and the beauty of the essential you.  Jesus has created you to be a special and unique gift to the world.  You are wonderfully made; you are a child of God!

Peeling off the layers that cover and confuse our soul-identity is not easy.  There is the pain of the past that piles on layers.  There are the expectations of other people that adds more layers.  There may be shame and guilt that heaps even more layers on.  And then, there are the consequences of our own choices that loads on even more layers. 

When we drift away from the soul-identity that Jesus formed in us, it is easy to conclude that we are helpless or hopeless.  When that happens, we often give up on Jesus, give up on other people, and may even give up on ourselves. 

We convince ourselves that our real soul-identity no longer matters.  We begin to let life define us or we begin to let other people define us or we lose our desire to live a life that honors God.  We no longer care about the identity of our soul.

Peeling back the layers until we finally reveal the soul-identity which Jesus has formed in us will require more than a little forgiveness and a great deal of hard soul work. 

Somewhere on the journey, we will realize that until the power of Jesus’ love touches our heart and mind and soul, we will be less than Jesus created us to be.  The Spirit will show us that the power of the cross upon which Jesus died can give us a new beginning, a new soul-identity, and a new life in Jesus. 

Who you really are deep in your soul is re-discovered when the forgiveness of Jesus sets you free and the Holy Spirit releases you into a life of peace and joy and love.  When we experience that kind of grace and live that kind of life in Jesus, we will know and celebrate our soul-identity.  Our soul will explode with delight in the Lord.

Take delight in the Lord!

Doug