“Intimacy! Identity! Annnddd…. Worth!” - Chevon Chadee

Dear Readers, Let's engage in Chevon Chadee's Post on Intimacy! Identity and Worth!

“Intimacy! Identity!Annnddd…. Worth!” Hmm…it has that kind of movie set ring to it where the director says “Lights! Camera! Annnnddd Action!” doesn’t it? Well truth be told, life is like a movie with all of its ups and downs, the exciting news of a budding romance between a man and a woman, the painful tragedy news when a loved one or close friend dies and all in all, if I’m being quite honest, life can be just a whole plot twist that we don’t see coming at times……and that’s how it is.

Hi. My name is Chevon and today I’d like to direct your attention to the importance of knowing our worth, not through our own understanding but by recognizing that true worth only comes through a real relationship with Jesus where identity is found. I know you may not like reading, but please, read on. I pray that as you read, the Holy Spirit would bring you to the place of truth.

Ok….bear with me as I become a bit vulnerable and open up to you. *takes a deep breath*……….*here goes everything*

For as long as I can remember, the reality of identity and intimacy with the Holy Spirit was a foreign concept for me. I was born into a family that loved Jesus and worshipped Him. Anytime the doors of the church were opened, you can be sure that my family and I would have been there .I remember time after time my parents would say something to the effect of “Make sure you have a relationship with Jesus……” and I’d say “Ok.” because these were my parents and I wanted to please them. I didn’t know that I had to actively pursuit this thing called relationship with with Jesus. I thought that being in church on a Sunday morning, listening to gospel music during the week and having Christian friends was enough and that this was relationship with Jesus. Truth be told, it was far from.

You know, looking back at my life experiences, I’d have to say that God has a weird sense of humor at times. LOL! He has a way of orchestrating things to align with His Will that we don’t have a choice but to surrender. It was during one of these moments, a moment where I had none of those friends around me, A moment where no song that I played or listened to could have spoken what my heart was experiencing at that point and at that point I recognized that there was only one thing to do which was to speak to this Jesus I thought I had relationship with. Let me share with you some things I have learnt over the years.

Firstly, Intimacy with Jesus goes way beyond what your mind can comprehend but it takes all of your heart to seek Him out just for Him and nothing else. Jeremiah 29:13 says “And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” There MUST be a longing to seek Him and not just seek Him but to also find Him with your whole heart, just like the way you would seek out the person you love with all of your heart….and even more. Just as you long to speak with that person you love and have a desire to hear their voice, so to in the life of a believer there must be a greater desire to speak with Jesus just to hear His voice and just how we are accepted and affirmed when in a relationship, the same happens when we are in relationship with Jesus, but to a greater extent. Intimacy with Jesus fills the void we have or that longing we have to be accepted. It is a light that points us into the direction that says only Jesus and no one else can fill that void. At the end of the day, we can jump high or jump low, there is always a desire to fit in somewhere; a place where we can have a sense of identity.

*Intimacy with Jesus, fills the seemingly unattainable desire to be love and accepted.*

Secondly, in the journey of Intimacy, we arrive at the place of Identity. We cannot have one without the other. It is through the process of intimacy with Jesus that we begin to have an understanding of what our Identity is supposed to be. For all intents and purposes, Identity is an imprint of one’s character and one’s nature upon another. This becomes a person’s new identity. When we are joined with Christ, we become one with Him. If we are one with Him, it means that His life flows through us and because of this His nature is . In John 15:5, Jesus says the following, “I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” In our Trini culture, we have this saying “Dey rub off on meh!” It basically means that those we spend time with, there will be a mirror effect of their character, of their nature; the way they laugh, the way that they pronounce certain words; all this would become part of us. Why? Because there has been a joining taking place. When you and I are joined to Jesus, we ought to become more like Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says this, “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.”

*In relationship, we become like the person we love.*

Now how does all of this tie in with “Lights! Camera!…..Anddddd Action!” is truly a thing of simplicity that we have overlooked and have made complicated. Truth be told, as we progress in this love relationship with Jesus, Intimacy is the light that begins to shine on the dark recesses of our lives that needs that attention. A camera, whether it be for photography or video, it still focuses on a subject matter and sometimes it gets up close and personal bringing what is known as ‘character’ ‘detail’ or ‘Identity’ to the subject focused on. For want of a better terminology, it ‘shows up’ the subject in all its ‘glory’ and in all its ‘flaws’ and this where the last part comes in.

*To be like Jesus is to exemplify Him in all areas of life.*

Thirdly, as we grow in this newfound identity that we have of a new nature because we are joined to Him, it means that our old nature (the carnal nature of man) has to die. Matthew 16:24 says this Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. When we die to ourselves, every bit of unworthiness we would have probably felt as a result of not being loved, not being accepted and just being rejected in the times of our lives where we needed that loving affirmation goes out the door. Understand this, that when Jesus died, His blood was poured out for us and we accepted His loving embrace as Lord, Saviour, Master, Redeemer and Friend, in that single moment of acceptance we became justified of His love, His embrace, His forgiveness and everything that came with Him. Now we can safely say “….And Action!!!” because we get to actively walk out this love relationship with Jesus. We get to experience His gentle embrace daily. We get to experience His tender voice in the morning and most importantly we get to share this amazing gift with those around us. So walk in the confidence that you are loved, you have worth and its all because Jesus first loved us!

1 John 4: 19 says “We love Him, because He first loved us.”