Where do you find your identity? Careers, relationships, and even ethnic backgrounds are avenues through which we often mistakenly find our identity. According Trillia Newbell, the first place we should find our identity is in our relationship to God.

“Before I was a Christian, I would have put most of my identity in what people thought of me, as well as my ‘blackness.’”

When Trillia was growing up, she was often told that she ‘sounded white,’ even though she was black.

“I was often confused because I wanted to be accepted by all people, it was just a confusing time as a teenager.”

After she became a Christian, her focus shifted from what other people thought of her to what God thinks of her.

“The Lord gave me a new identity, I’m His daughter and I am in Christ. My identity isn’t found in my skin color.”

Our heart identity is what matters in God’s eyes, not what we look like on the outside.

“Our heart desire, our heart identity, who we are is no longer based on these outward appearances and how others identify.”

As Christians we are not called to be color-blind and ignore the differences in outward appearance. Instead, embracing differences and accepting the way that God has made each and every unique individual.

“He created me, he created this brown skin, and he gave us varying culture.”

We should acknowledge and accept our differences with others, they are part of who God has made us to be, but they are not all God has made us to be.

Maybe it’s time to let go of something in your life that you hold on to for identity. Give up the hopeless endeavor of self-identification and let Jesus be your identity.

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” – Matthew 16:25.

Highlight: What’s your identity?

The true source of identity