Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - Desperate for an Identity

A rare form of amnesia is to blame for a man's loss of memory in Seattle who walked out of a public park three weeks ago with $600 stuffed in his sock and could not remember who he was. Though he is now able to recall a few details of his past, words like "lonely, frightening, overwhelming" have described his experience.

Unfortunately, this guy isn't the only person with an identity crisis. A quick glance at today's culture reveals two things that people are desperate for and will go to great lengths to find: someone to tell us who we are and someone to help us understand why we are here. For the follower of Jesus, we find answers to both of these in God's Word. God identifies who we are and tells us what our purpose is on the earth. If you are a Christ-follower, your life will not make sense or come into focus without a clear understanding of God's answers to these two things that make up life.

God tells us who we are. In Colossians 1:16 , the Bible says "All things were made by Him and for Him." This includes you and me. We were made by God and for God. We were made to be loved by God, and to love Him in return. And He calls us His own, having bought us back with the blood of His Son (Romans 5:9-11 ).

And God has given us a specific mission as His kids. He calls us His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20 ). What is an ambassador? An ambassador is someone who has been appointed by the person in highest authority to represent him in a specific place. Have you ever thought of yourself as Christ's ambassador?

God has placed you where you are, where you work, where you live, for a purpose. And that purpose is to use your influence to take the people around you to heaven with you. In other words, God has divinely positioned you to save lives! Like a lifeguard is responsible for their stretch of the beach, God is calling you to become the spiritual rescuer of those you love and care about.

There are many things God can use through your life and influence to help bring others into a relationship with Himself. He can use the example of your marriage, your relationships with your children, a public prayer over a meal, an act of kindness, or simply a smile to give hope to the people in your life who need Jesus.

If you will grasp what this means, it will radically change your perspective on the rest of your life. Things will start to come into focus when you realize who you are and why you are here. Without this knowledge from God, you and I, too, would suffer an identity crisis for which the world simply cannot provide an answer.