_{We can travel some rocky roads when we misplace the root of our identity.}

Hi everyone. I’m Sherry Douglas with Heart-Song. Three fundamental needs we have in our lives have been on my mind this week – identity, purpose, and belonging. Today we’ll look at identity.

Having a unique identity is a profound yearning that each of us experience. We desire significance. We want to do something that makes a difference. However, we can travel some rocky roads when we misplace the root of our identity – when we identify ourselves from what we DO instead of who we desire to BE.

Often, our motivations of seeking significance come from a need we have within – like perfectionism, and needing appreciation or admiration. We may want to appear competent, happy or independent. Or we may be caught up in people-pleasing. We will not be able to cut these motivations completely from our lives, but as the key foundation of identity, they will never work well.

For those of us of faith, let’s keep in mind that Genesis 1:27a says, “God made humans. He made them to be like himself.” Our identity is to come from BEING like God.

Most of us at some point find our identity in our work or what we DO. When people first meet, often one of the questions asked is, “What do you DO for a living?” We even ask young children, “What do you want to DO when you grow up?” We start setting them up to seek their identity from DOING instead of from BEING like God.

To discover the root of our identity, we can ask ourselves:

What do I feel like I can’t live without? If it were taken from me tomorrow, how would I respond? Ask the Lord to help you to make good decisions about how to be rooted in Him; how to become more like Him. To have an identity at the root that cannot be shaken or changed. The more we pursue to be like God, the less self-seeking motivations show up. Live the way you want to be remembered.

I hope you’ll invite some friends to follow the videos, too, so that you can discuss these topics together.

Be sure to check out this Facebook page on Friday, May 13th, for an awesome opportunity in which you can participate.

See you next week.