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⸙ IDENTITY

Chapter Five

“For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined...” Romans 8:29

Identity is who you are or how you look at yourself as. Every one of us behaves and carries him- or herself according to who we think we are. It’s good to search within ourselves who we are because it's until we discover this when we can start to pursue something.

So, your identity is not just about your genetic makeup but more so the tool you should become or the end picture of the person (vehicle) you should develop into that will take you to your destination. Something that people will identify or characterize you by.

If you don’t know your purpose in life you can discover it through your identity, and if you don’t know your identity you can have an idea if you know what your purpose is. You are a tool to achieve something and what that tool is, is your identity.

The struggle of identity crisis is real and if you didn’t struggle with it already, I wouldn’t want you to. I faced this problem when I was in my second and third

year of college and I kept on changing my names to fit the purpose I was feeling deep inside. Since it wasn’t clear on what I was supposed to do, every time I got a clearer picture, I changed my name to fit that picture until I finally got the name that best described what my purpose was and hence describes who I am.

It wasn’t really about finding the perfect name but rather figuring out who I should be. I was an unstable person till I figured out who I was supposed to be. That’s when I surely started building forward.

The piece of the scripture on the previous page is one of my favourites and talks about foreknowing and predestination. Foreknowing is about who you should be - your identity whilst predestination is about what you should do or accomplish – your purpose. If you want to treat the sick, then be a doctor first. If you are to lead, then develop into a leader first. If you are to deal with injustice in the world, then be a tool that naturally not only hates but can also readily deal with the injustice in the world, e.g., a lawyer or a judge but it’s not limited to professional qualification.

For the same reason, it took Joseph 13 years from the time he dreamt of leading to the time he led in Egypt. All that time, God made sure he was developed into a leader to meet the challenge. The same way with Jesus, even though He was the Saviour, He still had to develop into the saviour He needed to be to execute the role orderly and to the letter.

Let me also take this opportunity to tell you that there is power in names. Names are not just there for the sake of calling each other but rather they give us identities. They are not only used to identify us but also give us an identity. I used to wonder why I hate injustice till I connected it to my name “Chilungamo” (Justice). This is the reason why Jesus had almost a name for every role He had to play. This is the reason God is so specific with names with the people He worked with because He knows the power of names. Abraham, Sarah, Israel, Jesus among others, carried names that signified their purposes.

In the garden of Eden, Adam didn’t just give names to the animals but the characters or behaviours per the meaning of their names. It was more of giving them their identities. Every time people call you by your name, they establish the meaning or character of that name upon you, and you know that words create. That’s why the people who are named after certain people end up behaving similar to their namesakes. You keep on calling a child stupid and that is what they end up becoming, stupid! Who you are determines what you do.

You may divert into becoming and behaving in a way you weren’t meant to just because your parents gave you a certain name that’s holding you back. It is primarily your responsibility to discover who you should be and what you should accomplish in this life and go for it, regardless of the name that your parents gave you. If the name that you have is limiting you, please do change just as a lot of people have. As said earlier, God changed a lot of names of people He worked with for the same reason of marrying the names to their purposes or destinies.

Why Is It Necessary to Figure Out Who You Are Or Should Be?

As earlier said, figuring out your identity is about figuring who you are or should be; the person that you should develop into. Like seeing the “In-shape” you and start hitting the gym to bring that person out.

Figuring out the tool you are or should develop into gives you stability and focus. You know exactly the kind of person you should be developing into and you pursue that. You are not intimidated by what others are developing into because you know they are not you and they aren’t taking anything away from who you should be.

Knowing who you should be and developing into that person will get you closer to becoming the tool or the person who is supposed to carry out your purpose. If you want to save people from something you first need to develop into that saviour from deep within your soul. The way you think, behave, speak and act, everything has to ooze the saviour in you. That way it comes out naturally from you to do the saving that’s needed to be done.

When you know who you are or should be, you know exactly what you are supposed to do. If you see yourself as a leader you know you should be leading in something or certain people somewhere. If you see yourself as a teacher, you know you should be teaching someone something somewhere.

It also helps you to realize the kind of exposure or education you need. What a freedom fighter needs to learn is different from what a teacher needs to learn about their purposes; they need different knowledge and skills though some things may be common.

How Do You Know Who You Are or Should Be?

Let your purpose guide you into a person you should be because it takes a person of a certain calibre to achieve something naturally. If you were meant to teach people through books then be an author or blogger from inside out, and writing will become you and you will do so naturally. Discover what you should accomplish, and you will know who you should be.

Your natural desires and natural talents also give you an idea of who you are because this also directs you to what your purpose is. Who-you-should-be reveals your potential – what you can do, and what you can do also directs you to who you should be. You can tell what something is and what it is supposed to achieve through knowing its characteristics or properties. Discover those properties and characteristics within you and you will discover who you are or should be.

So, who are you or who should you be in this life?