Identity Reimagined: I am God's Workmanship

Part of our identity rests in knowing that we are God’s workmanship. Odd phrase. We usually equate workmanship to a fine piece of furniture, or art, or some other precise creative endeavor. We think of good workmanship of highest quality, attention to details, and finest design elements. The word used in scripture that calls of God’s workmanship is from the Greek word poiema from which we derive our word for poem.

I like that, because being God’s poetic work removes the striving to create my own identity in relationship with God. As much as I’ve worked at finding my purpose or calling within this life, and to name my identity, I’m finally accepting and experiencing that the sole and soul reason for my existence is simply because God delights in me, and God delights in you.

Each of us bring God a unique pleasure just by being alive in this world, at this time, and in this place. If our existence was for any greater reason other than God’s delight, I fear we would turn our lives into a competition. And honestly, that is often where we live — in the comparing, judging, demeaning of self or others which denies the Divine masterpiece found in the epic poem of our lives. Or, as a Jewish proverb poetically says, “Before every person there marches an angle proclaiming, ‘Behold, the image of God.’”

You are God’s workmanship — the finest creation, a poetic expression, a sacred song. How then do you respond? What difference does it make in how you see your life? How does it speak to your soul? How does it impact the way you see others?