Chapter 3

SPIRITUAL IDENTITY CRISIS

In 1995, Disney/Pixar released the first animated film. It was a movie called “The Toy Story.” In this movie, a little boy named Andy had all of his toys come to life. The story line was built around the conversations the toys have. Among those toys was a dinosaur named Rex. Rex had an identity issue. After all, he was a dinosaur. People are supposed to be afraid of dinosaurs, right? The problem was that his inside didn’t match his outside. Yes, on the outside he was a BIG, scary-looking dinosaur, but on the inside, he was soft hearted and lovable. He would even try to roar really loud to scare people, but it didn’t work. Even when he gave it his best effort to be scary, the others would often respond with, “Oh, hey Rex.” He wanted so bad for people to be afraid of him, but to no avail. Why? They knew who he really was on the inside. Once again, his inside did not match his outside.

I know a lot of God’s people today who are living with a SPIRITUAL IDENTITY CRISIS. Their outside does not match the inside. On the exterior, they try to put on a smile and come off like they have it all together. However, on the inside, they are broken, hurting, and afraid. They have not dealt with many of the heart issues that plague them on a daily basis.

“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of Sonship. And by Him we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.” (Romans 8:15–17)

I think most of us struggled with