Identity Issues and Jamie Winship

Identity issues keep coming up when I pray for people.

In my case, it’s with women who have young adult and adult sons.

(Or in one case, a son-in-law).

I’ve been pointing them to Jamie Winship and his Identity Exchange (which he founded with his wife, Donna).

The reason?

We’re in a crisis these days. People–young and old–don’t understand the value of their personal identity.

It’s a problem in society as well as within the church.

Men and women both need help. Teenagers, in particular, are afloat in personal uncertainty.

What identity issues does Winship discuss?

As a result, we’ve been binge-listening to Jamie Winship’s podcast interviews and discussions lately.

They’re so interesting, amusing, and sometimes hair-raising!

The Winships

We’ve never quite heard a Christian talk like this–about hearing God and identifying with Him.

And, notably, about our identity in Christ.

Living Fearless Quotes

Young men and identity issues

We are living in unprecedented times when young men have been told lies about their worth.

You can see it all around–particularly in young men who have grown up without fathers.

Who will demonstrate how to be men of honor? How to treat others properly–particularly women?The value of a work ethic?How to overcome personal temptations: sexual, financial, ethical?

I think some of the problem lies in how we parent our children.

My father was driving into that above list when a teacher pulled him aside.

I wrote about it here.

A male history teacher asked him what he planned to do when he graduated from high school in 1948.

Raised with an absentee father, often hungry, working to buy his clothes, he had his eyes on money.

He shrugged. “Maybe be a printer.”

“No,” the male teacher said. “You’re smart. You need to go to college.”

Dad had never considered that idea. The last person in his family to go to college graduated in 1785.

(Though they didn’t know that!)

The teacher gave him a vision for himself that was greater and more focused than his wildest dreams.

It made all the difference in the world.

How do you see yourself?

Unless we had people in our lives who spoke to us about our identity–and what it meant–it can be hard.

The basic one, of course, is simple:

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “

Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you.

Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt.

~Jeremiah 31:3-4 (NKJV)

When God spun the suns across the galaxy, He had you in mind.

Unsplash Photo

He gave you specific gifts, talents, and abilities for the time and place in which He put you.

It’s not a surprise to God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit that you are the person you are.

Winship has thoughts:

“The journey in discovering your true identity in the kingdom of God is an eternal journey. There is no end to the depths of who God made you to be.”

  Living Fearless: Exchanging the Lies of the World for the Liberating Truth of God

Our identity issues–who we see ourselves to be–affect how we think and act.

“If your identity is unworthiness, you will act like an unworthy person. It doesn’t matter where you are or who you are with. You’ll still act to prove your worth and value.”

Leaving Fearless

Does the above quote sound like what you’ve observed in society recently?

What to do

I was praying for a woman recently when the Holy Spirit put a thought into my head.

“Do you have sons?” I asked.

The woman nodded.

“I think it’s important that you speak to them about who they are, and the strengths you see in them.”

She opened her eyes and looked at me.

gryffyn m on Unsplash">Unsplash photo

“You need to remind them that they have value. The world isn’t going to tell them who they are. It’s important that you speak the truth to them.”

She nodded.

I nodded right back. “Yes. Give them a sense of their worth. They’re important to you and to others. The world doesn’t want them to know that. We need to tell our young men about their worth because of who they are.

“It’s not about doing something. It’s about being. Pointing out their character will remind them of who they are.”

I then returned to her prayer request. After we said, “Amen,” we hugged each other.

Our boys, our men, are precious.

Sometimes, though, they need to know why. Sometimes it’s our job to help them sort out their strengths and their identity issues.

Or, here he is on a podcast talking about Following God’s Voice.

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