Finding Your True Identity in the Father's Heart

Blessed, happy, prosperous is the person who makes the Lord their trust. Parents change the world, and today we're focusing on the Father's heart - something relevant for everyone, regardless of your personal experience with fatherhood.

For some, Father's Day brings thankfulness and celebration. For others, it stirs a patchwork of emotions - some good, some bad, maybe some very bad. But today, we're going to explore fatherhood from the ultimate source: God the Father, the genuine Father of fatherhood.

Why do we struggle with our identity?

Whenever God creates something authentic, the enemy resorts to counterfeiting - even fatherhood. That's why Jesus called Satan the "Father of all lies." For every real diamond, someone will try to create a fake. But counterfeits only prove the real thing is worth faking.

There's an extreme possibility you've been hurt by someone with the title "Father." But God is an expert healer and restorer - not a replacer. His plan is to restore, redeem, and reform.

In this world, perception becomes reality. What you see, hear, and talk about becomes your truth. Many people haven't had good father-child experiences. Some relationships have been disappointing, while others have left deep wounds. But we all have spiritual "daddy issues" that need God's truth to bring alignment and restoration.

What was Jesus' true mission on earth?

Surprise! Jesus Christ didn't come just to save you from sin. He came to get you back to God the Father and give you an identity as a child of God. In John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way" - but the way to what? To the Father.

Too many Christians believe Jesus is "the way" without understanding where He's taking them. Jesus came to rewrite your heavenly DNA, undoing the hacking of your identity.

We tend to look at humanity through a lens of uniforms and positions. We evaluate people based on job titles, wealth, social media likes, and other external factors. We've confused doing with being. That's the world's limited perception, not God's.

How does our identity crisis manifest?

When you have a compromised identity, you feel forced to substitute, so you choose to do in order to be. The problem is, that "someday" never comes.

Think about it: a football player, nurse, police officer, model, priest, astronaut - what do they all have in common? They wear uniforms telling us what they do, but not who they truly are.

In our dysfunctional worldly way, we pursue destiny the only way we know how - manually. We do, work, build, outdo others, win, pursue, influence. It's part of our daddy issues. We know we need to be, but our carnal reflex is to do, hoping that we'll be. It's the whole "Look at me! I'm somebody! I'm important!"

But God's quiet response is found in Psalm 46:10: "Be still and know that I am God."

What happens when we truly know God as Father?

When you know Father God, something amazing happens inside you. You finally begin to know yourself and understand your worth. Your beliefs suddenly align with truth - not random theory, but unchanging eternal truth immune to death or corruption.

Here's a master key principle to life: What you look at and listen to determines what you believe. What you believe masters all your choices, and your choices are the sum of your life.

In Hebrew, just two letters make up the word "father," interpreted as "leader, beginning of the house, strength of the lineage of the family." When you insert a third Hebrew letter in the middle, you get a new word meaning "an open door to the Father's heart" - which translates to "love" in English.

The Father's heart is the open door to love and the only true source of your being.

How does God establish our identity?

Genesis 1:26-27 tells us God created humans in His own image and blessed them. There are approximately 200,000 different proteins in your body, each with a useful purpose, produced from coded information in your DNA molecules.

The first thing God gave you wasn't your purpose but your identity - your being. God started with your foundation - who you are, not what you can do. That's why we need Jesus - to restore the legitimacy of our true being.

There's no substitute for true identity, and you can't find it without Truth with a capital T. When you're without God's Word, you're without true identity, like living without oxygen.

What's the proper order of identity and purpose?

• Identity determines purpose
• Purpose triggers provision
• Provision manifests glory
• The glory of God is the essence of truth

If your design isn't powered by the Father's heart, you're forced to fake it. You try to work the wheel backward - performing to become - but it never lands. Eve in the Garden heard the deceiver say, "If you'll do this, you'll be this." When Adam lost his identity, he instantly became afraid.

Only God's truth makes us who we truly are. John 10:3 says, "He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out" - not by purpose, but by name.

Modifying outer circumstances with activity will never change your inner reality. Dressing better won't make you better. Getting likes doesn't increase your real value. More net worth doesn't increase your worth. But your biology or past doesn't define you either.

How do we become children of God?

Galatians 4:4-7 explains that God sent His Son to purchase our freedom so we might be adopted and recognized as God's children. Because we are His children, God sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts, crying "Abba, Father." We are no longer slaves but children and heirs through Christ.

There are only two types of people on Earth: slaves and children. The not-free and the free. The illegitimate and the legitimate. What separates them? It's all based on God's Son and whether you've received Him.

It doesn't matter who your earthly father is, how good or bad he was, or if he helped or hurt you. It all depends on knowing Jesus - the way to the Father's heart.

Can we be God's children yet not know the Father's heart?

Yes, it's possible. Jesus told the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. A father had two sons. The youngest asked for his inheritance, left home, and wasted everything. After falling on hard times, he decided to return home, hoping just to be hired as a servant.

But when the father saw him coming, he ran to meet him, embraced him, and immediately restored him as a son. They celebrated with a feast because "this son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."

Three significant points in this story:

• The son said, "Give me" - trying to be somebody through stuff and experiences
• "He came to himself" - realizing his broken condition
• The son prayed, "Make me" - recognizing he needed to be made new 

We need a Savior with the power to make us. It's not just about being restored to a position but to the Father's heart.

Why can't we earn our way to God?

No amount of self-sacrifice, labor, penance, or good works will substitute for the free gift of adoption through Jesus Christ. If you're still trying to deserve God's blessing or access the Father's heart through your efforts, stop. Put your faith totally in Jesus and His finished work.

John 1:12 says, "To as many as received Jesus, to them gave He the power, the right, the privilege to become the children of God."

Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is still 100% wrong. If you don't fix the root, you'll always have bad fruit. You can't outrun bad programming. A document on your computer full of errors will only print out a document full of errors.

Jesus makes the way for us to the Father's heart, the only source of true identity. And the Father's heart is a place of rest.

Life Application

Are you tired and weary of trying to become someone? Are you exhausting yourself trying to evolve into an identity? The hope for this fatherless generation is the Father's heart, and Jesus is the only way there.

This week, I challenge you to:

• Stop trying to earn God's love and acceptance through your performance
• Receive your identity as God's beloved child through faith in Jesus
• Return daily to the Father's heart for more inheritance, joy, and life
• Replace the lies about your identity with God's truth about who you are

Ask yourself:

• Where am I still trying to perform to earn God's love?
• What lies about my identity am I believing? 
• How would my life change if I fully embraced being God's child?
• In what areas do I need to experience the Father's heart of restoration?

God has great plans for your life as His child. Receive everything He's already accomplished for you through Jesus. Accept it by faith and return daily to the Father's heart for more inheritance, more joy, and more life.