Who am I & Whose am I

A common theme has shown up in my life lately.
Identity.
I read about it in my devotional on Thursday, read about being "crucified with Christ" in Galatians on Saturday, the sermon was about it on Sunday & I have seen several posts about identity on Facebook & Twitter today.
I read this today:
"Not only do we not know God except through Jesus Christ, but we do not know ourselves except through Jesus Christ." -Blaise Pascal
I gave my life to Christ when I was 13. I was at First Priority at my middle school & I felt the Lord tugging at my heart strings, so I went down to the front, dropped to my knees & prayed for God to enter into my heart and make me whole.
I proceeded into high school much like everyone else. I did things that I knew were wrong. I said things that I had no business saying. I went places I knew I didn't need to be. I made mistakes, ya know? Sin. I was trying to form my identity from the things around me rather than from what I asked to be inside of me: Christ. Whether that meant wrapping myself up in dating relationships or friendships or extracurricular activities or my GPA, I was searching.
God was a part of my life, of course. I knew the worship songs. I read the Word. I went to services. I was doing everything that a "Christian" needed to do. Nobody wants to go to Hell, right? I sure didn't. I sure don't! But He was just a part of my life. He wasn't my life. I was comfortable with where God & I were together. I knew enough about Him so that I could keep up with appearances but still leave Him on the backburner when the things I wanted to do didn't fit into His plans for me.
My freshman year of college really changed everything for me. Being away from home with only Him to guide me, my freshman experience class, Winshape, deterioration of a relationship... It all just pushed me into God's arms moreso than I had ever experienced before. When I got home from Winshape, I started volunteering with Give Love Away & middle school & main stage worship at Crossroads. I cannot get enough of the Bible. & my actions have finally started to reflect Him rather than just my words. I was no longer "comfortable," and I never wanted to feel "comfortable" again.
Why am I telling you all this?
As a Christian, I feel that it is my duty to tell folks about Him. I do not take the fire and brimstone tactic. Of course, I want everyone to know about a savior that is powerful, merciful, beautiful & just because I want them to meet him & spend eternity in Heaven with Him. But at the same time, I want people to meet Him because the relationship that awaits them is a game-changer. It's a life-changer. So many times, we meet Christ, pray the prayer and tuck Him under our belt so we make sure we're "saved." We post a status or two, maybe tweet every once in a while a Bible verse that we hear. We make sure that we're seen at church, and we donate something... every once in a while... to a cause we think it reputable. But we still never get it.
God wants to save us. He wants to welcome us into eternity with Him when our time on Earth is finished, but what about in the meantime?
When you start dating someone, do you kiss them right on the mouth, ask them to marry you and then say, "Ok, this is really cool! You are so perfect! See you in 20 years when I'm done doing what I want to do & I'm ready to get serious!" Of course, not! We agonize over how they feel about us. We text them & call them & go on dates with them. We want to know about them. Learn about them. We fall in love with them, and we work hard to make them fall in love with us. Ok, ok... I know this is vastly different. But still. God is crazy in love with us. & He wants nothing more than for us to seek Him & fall madly in love with Him. When you ask God to come into your heart, it's not over. Salvation does not end with "the prayer." It starts with it.
Salvation is not just being saved in the afterlife. It's about being saved in this life. Gah, this life can be confusing sometimes. Where do you go? What do you do? What kind of job do you go after? What man do you look for? What do you do when all you want to do is strangle everyone that you come in contact with for no apparent reason? God wants to save us from the crap of this life.
When our eyes are fixed on Him, we can weather the storm and make it to the other side. When our identity is fixed on Him, we are unstoppable.
I am crucified with Christ. When I offered up my life to Him, I had no idea that it meant that I would have to "crucify" the longings of this life. The desires of this life. Sacrifices have to be made. & I spent a lot of years trying to cut corners so that I could make appearances but still hold on to the worldly things that I felt that I needed. But He is all I need. He is what I build my identity on. No, it's not always comfortable. No, it's not always easy or simple. & yes, I make mistakes daily.
But I am so in love with my Creator.
& seeking Him has caused me to find who He created me to be.