Where Do We Look For Our Identity

On a bright and sunny October 4th, the students and faculty of Kuyper College gathered in the Vos Chapel as they do twice per week to hear God’s word taught, to sing together of His faithfulness, and to pray together. Professor Kelli Hoffman led the gathering this Tuesday, discussing Romans 12:1-8 as part of the Kuyper community’s ongoing focus on the book of Romans this year. 

During her talk, Professor Hoffman highlighted the theme of identity within the passage. She opened by introducing herself using several qualities that could be used to define her own identity, such as “wife”, “mother”, and “professor”, and asked those present to consider the ways in which they define their own. 

“We need to think about where we are looking for our identities,” Professor Hoffman said. We could look inwardly to the characteristics of our personalities. We could also look outwardly to our accomplishments. None of the things we might use to characterize ourselves are inherently bad, she said, but the key is to keep them in the proper perspective. “Are these things becoming who we are? How does our identity in Christ factor in?” questioned Professor Hoffman.

Looking to her chosen passage, Professor Hoffman noted that we may all be given different gifts, but we are all part of the body of Christ. Each of us can live out that identity in uniquely beautiful ways. Parts of our identity may change with time or circumstances, but who God says we are does not. “At the end of the day, God needs to be the source of our identity, because He is the most permanent thing that we have,” she said.