Neither Accomplishments nor Shame

So many of us think we are what we do. It's easy to slide into getting our identity from what we do – our job, our role in our family, our ministry. Instead of living who we really are, we get into performance, unconsciously trying desperately to be good enough to be loved.

Or on the negative side, we often secretly allow ourselves to be falsely defined by our shame. Godly conviction says, “I did something wrong.” Shame says, “I am something wrong.” Once caught in this deception, instead of living who we really are, we live in fear of being discovered and put our energy into controlling so that doesn't happen.

Often, we live in both deceptions at the same time.

But the truth is, thank God, neither our accomplishments nor or shame represents who we really are. We are not what we do. We are so much more. We had intrinsic value the moment God created us in the womb, before we even had a chance to do anything good or bad.

We sons and daughters of the Most High Living God. He created us for one reason alone – for his specific pleasure – the pleasure of having relationship with us. Wow.

So our true success is defined by these two experiences – the experience of being by loved by God, and the experience of loving him back. (Success defined by anything past that is actually some form of idolatry.)

We are not orphans, although in our pain we so often live like it. To live who we really are, our true identity flows out of our sonship or daughtership with the Living God.