I’m an INFP. I’m the color Green. I’m an Enneagram 9. I’m an Introvert. My love language is Words of Affirmation.
Those are the results I’ve been given from various tests, surveys, questionnaires, etc. to tell me and others exactly who I am. The problem is, these results are not only subjective, but deeply rooted in worldly parameters.
Sadly, we allow test results, and simply what others think about us give us our identity. We listen to what an online test (created by a human, I will add) says about our personality types and how we should identify ourselves.
The problem is, we’re looking in the wrong places to define us.
We put our hope and trust in what a test tells us about who we are. The only One who can really and fully give us our identity is the Lord, and Him alone.
Truth Is Not Subjective
Please don’t hear me say that personality tests are bad or wrong. I think they’re useful tools for our workplaces and even relationships, but I do think putting all our hope and trust in a test result is dangerous. If we get too caught up in how an online test defines us, we will stop turning to God to reveal our true identities.
Personality tests are subjective and can produce different results on different days, depending on our moods or how we feel like answering the questions. God’s Word, however, is unchanging and definite. There are no subjective or gray areas when it comes to what God says about us.
While our personalities and character traits vary drastically from one another, there are absolute truths that we can all define ourselves in.
- We are forgiven – No matter the depths of our sins, we are ALL forgiven in Christ when we come to Him in repentance.
- We are loved – God’s love for us is unconditional and never-ending.
- We are redeemed – We are made new and formed in His image.
- We are found – We are no longer wandering, searching for more. God has us in His arms and we belong to Him.
- We are whole – In Him, we are no longer broken and incomplete. He gives us ALL we could ever need.
- We are His heirs – We have an inheritance in eternal life with Him.
These truths are meant for you just as much as for me or anyone else. They are gifts that our Savior so graciously wants to give to us. When we accept them, we can then place our identity securely in each one.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Psalms 139:14
It’s ok to claim an enneagram number, color or letters representative of your responses, strengths and overall traits. Just don’t get so caught up in those things that you forget what God says about you. That should always ring louder and more clearly than anything or anyone defining us.
Don’t Keep Yourself in a Box
We really like to put others and ourselves into nice (or, not so nice) little boxes. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been labeled “quiet,” “too nice” (is that really a thing?), “laid-back” and “introverted.” I may show those qualities from time to time, but putting me in those boxes as my identity means I’m unable to be anything else.
I’m quiet, but I’ve learned to speak up when I need to. I do pride myself in showing kindness to others, and I don’t believe you can really ever be too kind. If that’s the case, Jesus was WAY too nice to us when He died in our place for our sins. I’m laid-back, but once again I know how to step into action or speak up when it’s necessary. When I’m alone and can process through things, I do recharge. So, if that makes me an introvert, then I’m ok with that.
The point is, let’s try harder not put people in boxes we don’t allow them to get out of. It’s not our job or responsibility to define others. Also, don’t allow the boxes or labels people give to you represent your true identity. Remember, our identities, the true and lasting ones, are found in the Lord alone.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10
True Identities Produce Confidence
Insecurity comes forth when we turn to what the world and those in it have to say about who we are. We can never truly live up to people’s expectations or be enough of what they think we should or shouldn’t be. Feeling pressured to once again fit into little boxes, makes us feel insecure and empty.
When we allow God alone to define us and present us with our true identities, we grow in security and confidence. Not because of what we do, say, or look like, but because we know God’s design of us is never flawed. We are who He says we are.
But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.
Jeremiah 17:7
Be confident in who you are, because God’s Word outshines anything someone may say about you. He doesn’t see us as the world sees us. He looks at us with complete love, grace and admiration because we are His sons and daughters. Remember that our Creator is where our true identity comes from, and we can stop looking in the wrong places to give us hope and self-confidence.
Such confidence we have through Christ before God.
2 Corinthians 3:4