carmelo anthony, basketball icon, now says that he doesn’t want basketball to be the sole entity that defines him. now, i havent read the article, but i don’t think i need to. carmelo says he doesn’t want to be defined by basketball, so that means he does want something to define him.
i can understand this to an extent. running had set the course of my life for nearly 16 years. my life with running is all i had ever known, until one day it just ended. so, like anyone with a new beginning before them, i ran trial and error protocols to see what could be suitable to define me and what could not make the grade.
similarly, mr. basketball has only known fame, fortune, basketball; and that too, will one day end. so why not do exactly what carmelo is doing? fill it with something more? is wanting to be known for more than just a game so wrong? leave a legacy right?
however, what i feel carmelo is juggling here is unrest. there is a lack of contentment. there is a desire to be known for something new.
is carmelo’s new definition going to satiate his appetite to be completely defined?
we’ve seen this before. i’ve seen this before. you’ve seen this before.
day to day our bank account changes
week to week our favorite football teams let us down
month to month our number of followers shifts
year to year our marriages change
and yet, we still try to put our identity in so many things when one of our demi-gods fails.
so if money, relationships, fame, success, kids, sports, a new tv, a new team, a new house, a new car, a new city, new friends, or a new job won’t permanently satisfy all that we crave, what will?
jesus. i know that seems simplistic, but it is. allowing jesus to define your life gives you the empowering freedom from the bondage of trying to be a better, more-popular, more-successful, more-beautiful, more-knowledgable version of you.
do you recognize that those things never satisfy?
those things, they aren’t you.
those things, they don’t get to determine your worth in life.
those things, they will always leave you empty.
those things, they can’t save you.
genesis 1:27
so God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
galatians 2:20
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.
john 4:13-14
jesus said to her, “everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that i will give him will never be thirsty again. the water that i will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
philippians 3:20
but our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, the lord jesus christ.
2 corinthians 5:16-19
from now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. even though we once regarded christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. therefore, if anyone is in christ, he is a new creation. the old has passed away; behold, the new has come. all this is from God, who through christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
ephesians 4:24
and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
1 peter 2:9
but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
ephesians 2:8
for grace you have been saved through faith. and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, os that no one may boast. for we are his workmanship, created in christ jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
luke 9:23
and he said to all, “if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
psalm 23:1
the LORD is my shepherd, i shall not want.
your identity is complete in the blood of jesus. are you tired of trying to be good enough, trying to fill your life with these trinkets and toys that temporarily sustain us but will ultimately fail us miserably? i know i am. i can never measure up and never will in my own strength. i could never have enough, until i surrendered everything i had to jesus. when jesus took my life, i found that he was all i ever needed, he alone satisfied this deep longing to be defined.
i struggle with identity crisis on a day to day basis, i do. i’ve been outed forever and there are no secrets. but because my hope is set in christ, i know i can come before the feet of jesus and repent of my sin justified. it will be a struggle until i meet my savior face to face when my glorification in his presence is complete.
i want to leave you with this question: if you were honest with yourself, where is your identity rooted?
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