Christ over Culture

It is so important to make sure that we follow God before anything else. Everything and I mean everything is second to God and His will. The world will try and influence you and make you believe that evil and ungodly things are part of God’s will and that is why it is so important for us to make sure that we know God personally. We must spend time in His Word, and talk to Him daily to ensure that we understand God’s will for us, and so that he can change and mold us to be who he created us to be. The enemy wants to steal, kill, and destroy and he is willing to do whatever it takes to make us believe that we are doing what’s best when really it is hurting God and ourselves. 

One of the biggest issues of our time is identity. Which seems silly, because on a surface level we all immediately think we know who we are. The question “Who are you?” shouldn’t be a hard question, but yet, it is. So many people are lost, and searching for something more, something fulfilling but the thing is nothing in this world will ever truly fulfill you. We need Jesus. That’s it. That’s all. Everything else that is good and pleasing in this world is an additional gift from God, but it is not essential.

These days people find their identity in labels, roles, success, status, image, and opinions. There is a quiet exhaustion across the world of trying to keep up, but that is why finding ourselves in the Word of God and the truth that he has laid out for us is so important. 

Culture seems to be louder than ever with social media, comparison, trends, productivity, and performance. The thing about culture, though, is that culture’s definitions and opinions are constantly changing and completely unstable. Your identity was never meant to be earned. Culture says “prove yourself”, while Christ says "receive". God offers us salvation and identity as a gift, not an accomplishment. True freedom is found in not striving for worth. 

We must surrender the control over our own self definition, and choose transformation rather than self-improvement. Remember that we are in the world, not of it. We are called to be set apart, and we must let our identify in Christ shape our behaviours and not the other way around. Trusting God and knowing our identity in Him, allows us to have peace, because approval is the goal. Our confidence is rooted in truth, not performance, so we can have stability when culture shifts.

Some practical ways to anchor your identity in Christ is making sure that we are reading scripture first thing in the morning, before starting work and definitely before touching our phones. When you have feelings of comparison and notice yourself comparing it is important to surrender those thoughts to God, spend time in prayer, and remind yourself of who God says you are. Also, find a community or some close friends that can help you reinforce the truth in your life and can speak truth and life over you. Finally, self examination is important to help us understand what is influencing us in our every day lives. What are we watching and listening to, and how is it affecting us?

Identity is not a one-time decision, it is a daily alignment and commitment. Just like putting on the armor of God and putting our trust in the Lord. It isn’t something we do once, it is something that needs to happen constantly and faithfully. Choose Christ’s voice over cultural noise.

Your true identity is only found in what your Creator says about you. He says that you are chosen (1 Pet 2:9), loved (Rom 8:38), forgiven (Eph 1:7), redeemed (Isa 44:22), adopted (Rom 8:15), and a new creation (1 Cor 5:17). You were made on purpose, for a purpose. Let scripture define your identity, not feelings or trends.

You are a child of the Most High God. That is your identity. Nothing else. You are not a zodiac sign, you are not your birth stone/flower/etc., you are not your family, you are not your past, you are not what others think. When all is said and done, the only thing that matters is if you are a child of God or not. 

Christ is King. Choose Christ over culture. Every. Single. Time. 

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

-Galatians 2:20