Identity in ...

Last night at our women's youth group we talked about Romans 12:1-2 and the idea of our identity. Katie challenged us to write down some of the things that we currently find our identity in. I would be very foolish to think that this is an exercise which would only benefit the younger women in our group. It strikes a chord in my heart to realize that even though I am older and wiser than I used to be, I still find a false sense of strength in things other than the identity that God has given to me. So, here are some of the things that I find my identity in right now:
1) My Education and status as an educated person: It makes me feel good to be able to tell people that I went to UCLA and then to Fuller. Often my B.A. and M.A. make me feel more important than the person that I became through my educational experiences.
2) My music: I really should be more specific and say that I often find my identity in my ability as a singer. When people approve of or genuinely like my music and my voice, I feel like they approve of or genuinely like me.
3) My past rebellion and sin: I don't know why but I do feel like I am often able to relate to people in a really shallow way by talking about my past sin, my tattoos, my past piercings, my crazy stories, etc. With some Christians who have had similar experiences it feels like we can relate better if we identify ourselves with our past sin patterns instead of with where we have grown out of those patterns. Also, with Christians who have walked a pretty straight path but align themselves with edgier people, I find myself feeling more valuable to them because of some of my experiences during my more vulnerable and rebellious times.

So there are three things although I know that there are more that I am too tired to dig out right now.