Identity Loss

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 25

Gold Nugget

Verse 4: “Take away the dross from silver, and it will go to the silversmith for jewelry.”

Commentary

Identity theft is not a joke. Millions of families suffer every year. The financial and emotional strain can cause enormous hurt and damage. However, not all identity loss is a bad thing. When two people come together in marriage, they should both experience some identity loss. For one, they are no longer single. Also, they are no longer providing for themselves alone. They begin to think in an “us” mode as opposed to a “me” mode. Another form of identity loss for the best is the identity you lose as you grow in your relationship with God. The bible teaches us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” That is to say, you are not who you were, nor who you shall be.

Today's “gold nugget” says, “Take away the dross from silver, and it will go to the silversmith for jewelry.” The “dross” are the impurities in sliver. Silver must be purified before it is of any use to the jeweler as jewelry. Anyone that knows anything about purifying silver or gold will tell you that it must be put through just the right amount of heat to be purified. In so doing, it will lose the “dross” part of its identity and become pure for the jewelers use. Embracing the truth from God’s Word has brought me to believe that it has been the heat of fiery trials that are burning away the dross. The identity that I have been losing is making more room for Him to take up the difference. Its okay for us to lose our identity as we are absorbed into Christ Jesus. The bible teaches us that He is in us, but it also says in the scripture mentioned earlier, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation”. Can you say that you have experienced some identity loss since you have been serving Him? Have you been feeling the loss of your identity as He burns away the impurities? If so, take joy in being fashioned in His likeness for we shall soon be as He is!

Prayer

Lord, I welcome the burning away of the dross in my heart and life. I like the work that you are doing as I decrease and you increase. I pray that you will be able to make good use of me as the dross is being been burned away. Amen

If you are reading this devotional in an e-mail and would like to post a comment, click on this link http://proverbfortoday.org/