My Identity.

John 1:12
12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

Friday night, I went to a concert with some youth from church. We had an incredible time down in West Palm Beach as we saw Tenth Avenue North. I really love that, even though it was a short concert (it was free), the words and messages that they bestowed upon us were just a blessing and simply priceless.

Tenth Avenue North is becoming more and more mainstream Christian. You hear their songs "By Your Side" and "Love is Here" on the radio a lot. They released a new album this month called "The Light Meets the Dark." The thing I love about this band is that they're so open and honest about what you not only have to do to grow in your Christian faith, but more importantly what you have to do to grow closer to God.

The lead singer, Mike Donehey, had some really powerful things to say with regard to our personal appearance and especially our identity. God has really been talking to me about that over the last couple weeks as it's been coming up at youth group. I believe it's part of preparing me for college.

You see, the problem is our peers and others try to convince us that what we've done in the past is who we are. When really, God doesn't think in those terms. None of us deserve to have God's grace, but we are all recipients of it.

We're all children of God and no one can take that away. We're a child of God who just happens to be the leader singer of a band, cheer lead, or write a blog in my case. Use your cheer-leading skills, for example, to bless other children of God. Don't look at it as your whole identity because that can quickly change: What if your voice is gone tomorrow and you can't sing? What if you break a leg and you can't cheer? What if the Internet is gone next week and I can't post any more blogs?

Never let your mistakes get the better part of who you are either. God gives us a clean slate every time, we just have to promise to come back stronger than ever for his glory. Chris said, "the choices you make don't make you who you are. What Christ has done for you, makes you who you are."

Lord help us remember that our identity is not what we like to do, for that may be temporary. Help us realize that we are a child of God who can use our interests for the betterment of your kingdom.

Listen to the words of "You Are More" by Tenth Avenue North. May you realize that you are more! Finally, I leave you with some more of Chris' words: "We're not struggling to be free, if we're in Christ, we're free to struggle.