My responsibilities as a pastor give me the opportunity to talk to every type of person you could imagine on a weekly basis. As I do my best to try and help people navigate through life with a great sense of purpose and hope in knowing Jesus, I have found one issue that distracts people more than almost any other. Farmville. I kid, I kid! The issue that truly confuses people is the issue of identity.

People want to fit in. As a matter of fact, according to psychologists, our desire for acceptance is greater than our need for food, water or shelter. It is a need that drives us to do nearly anything. We will search for it anywhere imaginable, we will starve ourselves for it, punish our bodies for it, we will work for it, we will finance things we cannot afford to have it, and many times we will compromise our own values to get it.

I am so moved when I look at Jesus’ life because He had such a huge sense of who He was. Remember, He was fully God but He was also fully human as well. He was able to relate with all of our fears, shortcomings, our longings to fit in.

Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.

As we go through life we tend to label ourselves pretty easily in order to find our own identity. From political views and musical tastes to sexual orientation and cultural behaviors, people latch on to almost anything that makes them feel a sense of purpose. Sadly, some people even define themselves from their weaknesses or failures, or even their strengths and successes. None of these things are a viable foundation for who we are. People fail to recognize the difference between what they do and who they are.

After 30 years of a fairly normal life Jesus steps on to the scene ready to embark on the most daring, beautiful three year span in the history of the universe. He encounters John the Baptist and asks to be baptized. As Jesus is coming up out of the water something extraordinary happens.

Matthew 3:16-17
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

Listen to what the Father says to the Son. First He makes a statement of acceptance.

“This is my Son.” You are a child of God. You can look all over the world for a place to fit in but you will never find a more powerful revelation than the moment you realize what it means to be a child...a child of God.

John 1:12
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God; even to those who believe in His Name.

God is speaking that same thing over you at this very moment. “You are my child”. That rules.

Second He makes a declaration of His love for His Son. “Whom I love.” How far have you gone in pursuit of love? How many dead ends have led to pain and brokenness when the Fathers love was there all along?

Romans 5:8
But God commendeth His love for us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The amazing part is that His love for us was the greatest at the worst moment of our lives. He knew or jerkiness, yet loved us.

Third He makes a statement of affirmation. “In whom I am well pleased.” During ministry times I have put my arms around dozens of sobbing men over the years that have admitted their whole life was lived vainly in pursuit of the acceptance their father never gave them. To simply hear an important person tell us that they are proud of us does something to the soul. My five year old son Jude will look at me sometimes and say, “Daddy you love me and you are proud of me." I laugh out loud as I doubly reaffirm his statement. “That’s right son. Your Daddy loves you and I’m very proud of you. You’re a great man." He usually says, “I already know that Daddy." He has literally heard me say those things hundreds of times. What the Father spoke over the Son at the Jordan River He is still speaking over you today.

On our recent record there is a song called “Draw Me Closer.” I wrote this song in a very intimate moment of my life where I felt as if I could ask God anything and He would grant my request. I could never be so personal with Him if I didn’t know who I was in Him.

You are His child. He loves you. He is proud of you. Don’t be defined by anything that never had the power to create you. He knows who you are and who you were meant to be. That is enough.