Identity theft is said to be the number 1 crime in the world. Someone is trying to steal who you are and profit from it.

Has your identity in Jesus been stolen? For years of my Christian life I focused on managing my sin. I had to strive to please God or I’d suffer. I was convinced that if my performance, my behavior, as a Christian wasn’t good enough then I would be rejected and suffer.

My identity in Christ had been stolen.

I allowed others to take my identity in Christ and replace it with an identity they projected on me. The focus was on trying to rehabilitate the old man which stole the identity of the new man. They were making me sin conscious. The sin that Jesus had already taken care of on the cross. The sin that God had already dealt with forever I was supposed to deal with somehow.

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3 ESV)

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. (Romans 6:6,7)

Thankfully, my identity was recovered when I became aware that only God – never man –  can create my identity. Whew, that was close.