I just recently discovered Sarah Sparks’s music. I highly encourage everyone to listen. The woman is a talented poet and lyricist who can also actually play music. That combination is mind-boggling to me. Her music changes me as I listen to it. In my humble opinion, the work that she does magnifies God. I should hope to one day hang my hat on something similar.

At any rate, I was listening to the song The Artist last night. It’s about someone watching God paint a masterpiece, presumably her life, and being offended that he would use such dark and ugly colors. When she can see the painting completed, she notes that “it was not of me at all.” That hit me hard.

Have you ever heard someone tell you to “find your identity in Christ”? Yeah. I can buy a dozen things from Mardel with that phrase. Thank you, fellow churchie, for the banal platitude. But seriously: what does that even mean?

And something about this song highlighted it for me. I think I understand now.

This phrase “find your identity in Christ” begins with “find your identity,” which I think has thrown me off. I hereby support swapping it up a bit, because yes, the order matters. “In Christ, find your identity.”

When you review your life in its entirety, maybe you are disappointed. Perhaps reviewing your life gets you worried about making it look exactly how you want it. Maybe you’re just flat out confused; there is no continuity or larger meaning at all. And I find that we do very much of this: Reviewing our life in its entirety. How much it sucks, or if we’re accomplishing what we set out to do. Mostly in the shower, yes? But I think this kind of thinking misses the entire point:

When you step back and review your life, you will find that it was never about you in the first place. It was about Christ.

And Hallelujah. I have found nothing more liberating than this.

How liberating. It no longer matters if I am seen as successful at my 20-year class reunion, or in the eyes of an ex-boyfriend, a former rival, or that coach that told me I’d never amount to anything. And most of all: It doesn’t matter to myself. I no longer have my own agendas to look after. I don’t need to be special or important. I don’t have to worry about accomplishing something of great importance or fighting for some cause. I simply join in to the already accomplished work of Jesus. I am simply an instrument and a vessel. It isn’t about me at all.

“That person at work is mean to me. I disagree with their values. I just don’t like them.” Ok, but so what? That no longer matters. How does Jesus see the situation? Do they need a friend? At the very least, they need a good example of Christ if one is going to keep appearing before them as His representative each day. If you are not in a position to help them, you can certainly pray for them and support someone else who can.

“I can’t keep going. I just can’t get out of bed and do today.” How does Jesus see this situation though? Your suffering is small, and his power infinite. He has a whole church out there that he wants to support you through this. Have you asked them for help? Are you meeting with them regularly so they know what you’re struggling through? Christ has a full body of many members. He never intended for you to work alone.

“I have failed at everything I attempted this year.” And the things that you were attempting: Were they your goals and desires? Give them up. They don’t matter. Your life is not your own. You have been bought with a price. So what is that Christ wants you to do? I would ask you if you succeeded at those things, but that’s a stupid question. You don’t need to. HE will succeed at them. He WILL succeed at them. With or without your cooperation even. The question is, rather, have you been faithful to following what you know if your part in them.

I am not me. I am something different now. I am not even Me-in-Jesus. I am swallowed up by this person. I am just one part of a much larger thing: His body operating on this Earth. I am a part of Us-In-Jesus. That doesn’t mean all my quirks disappear. It just means that they are now shaped, adapted, and used for something other than what I want. Moreover, I must consider how my quirks fit in with my fellow body-members. What quirks do I have that could be the strength to cover someone’s weaknesses who is working beside me? What weaknesses do I have for which I need help before proceeding with the task at hand?

My life, from ten steps back, is absolutely a masterpiece! And it looks like a portrait of someone else.

In Christ, I find my identity.