At a recent small-group gathering in a large home, I brought up our theme of “Are You Bad or Good?” in hopes of stimulating real conversation while gathering insights from among the attending faithful. As we discussed the Genesis 1:26–32 passage, one woman asked, “Kevin, what does being made in the ‘likeness’ of God mean?”
Here’s my small response to a much bigger answer: “Likeness of God means we are profoundly identified with God, while not being God. We are His children in His Kingdom. Our identity is single-sourced in God. Any other source of our identity is a false idol. So when we identify with anyone or anything other than God, however well-intended, whether we recognize it or not, we’re lost in the world.”
She smiled and said, “I get it.”
In our Refine Your Purpose monthly calls open to all, our discussions often center on the relationship of our identity and 2-word purpose. The ideas of “likeness” and “identity” are intertwined concepts that, as for the woman at the party, are typically vaguely understood and, therefore, seemingly irrelevant to our daily lives and decisions. But that is misguided thinking.
Your 2-word purpose shines as a specific and meaningful “statement” of who you are given whose you are. This narrowing grasp on your reality provides remarkably useful insight to bridge the gap between concept and clarity of one’s identity. Ironically, one’s purpose naturally elevates personal responsibility, internal accountability, and stewardship of one’s precious life—or further denial. However, when this individual understanding takes positive root within our spirit, we see others in their uniqueness with greater compassion and patience.
In layman’s terms, there you have it.
But have you tapped into the depth of your identity to inform the expression of who you are? When you do, you know you’re on-purpose. And when you’re disconnected from your purpose, you’re unplugged from the power source of your life and are off-purpose. And you recognize that denial of you identity is unhealthy to body, mind, and spirit with ripples effects to others.
The turned-on light switch is the symbol of The On-Purpose Person. It connects a series of dots from God to Self to Others in a meaningful manner of joy so we can flourish where we are planted.
