Well, we can start with the obvious. I'm a teenage girl. My name is Alex.
Okay, but who are you?
Um... I'm a high school student. I'm a member of Brookwood Church and some clubs and groups.
Yeah. But who are you?
I was born here, I have one brother, I like Mexican food, and my family is divided between Clemson and USC.
Okay. But, really, who are you?
...
This past Wednesday, Josh talked with us about identity. If you wear a shirt with pictures or words on it such as sport teams, schools, music artists/bands, hobbies, locations, sterotypes or businesses, you are identifying yourself with that group. Getting a tattoo is similiar. Tattoos are pretty much permanent -- and you've identified yourself with whatever is inked on your body.
Identity is really important. Have you ever walked into a room and everyone is in their own little cliques? Maybe it's the Mauldin group on the left, the JL Mann group on the right, and Hillcrest and Byrnes and St. Joe's and Riverside and Southside High and Southside Christian and Woodmont and Shannon Forest and TR are just randomly organized around the room. And if your school isn't represented, it just feels weird. Like you don't belong. And you almost feel identity-less.
This is important: God wants to give you an identity and a name and a purpose. He wants to brand you with his love. He wants to call you his own. He wants you to be his child.
Ephesians 3:16-19 says,
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you
with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make
His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your
roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the
power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how
long, how high and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of
Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that
comes from God.
Let God give you strength and change your heart with his Spirit. Let Christ make His home in your heart. He will live in you through a relationship with God. God will help you to understand His love, which you will experience. And God will never let you go. He loves you! He wants to brand you with his love.
So, who are you?
A child of God. A daughter or son of God. A believer in His power.
Alex W / Message Writer
