About Panda Bears, Self-Identity, and Personal Destiny

Who you are, it may be said depends on who you love, and you become the one you authentically are only when you come to love, above all else, that which deserves to be loved above all else. Authentic self-love, then, belongs to those who love God. This is presumably why, before implying the legitimacy of self-love, Jesus commanded the love of God--with all one's heart and mind and soul. Self-love is wrong when it is love that cares nothing for God. But such a self is an imposter, pretending to an authenticity it does not possess. Such misidentification of the self is the very essence of sin, whereas accurate identification of the self, which can derive only from love for God, is at the heart of righteousness. In sum, when you identify yourself accurately, you render self-love compatible with hope. Glenn Tinder in "The Fabric of Hope"

I am not sure how many folks have seen Kung Fu Panda, an animated movie about a panda bear who is anticipated to be the deliverer for his people. He is incredulous that anyone thinks he is the "chosen one". His story struck a chord in me: his biggest obstacle in becoming who he was destined to be was not his physical ability (though his physique did not inspire confidence as a combatant). Nor was the primary problem he had to overcome the enemy that he would eventually face. The greatest barrier to Kung Fu Panda becoming who he was destined to be was his lack of identity: he had never really known who he was or what his purpose was, so when presented with what was his ultimate destiny, he was totally befuddled and in a state of panic. His mentor, who could have been viewed as a Kung Fu version of C.S.Lewis' "Hound of Heaven", is relentless in coaching and training, loving, him into being the person the Panda was destined to become.

Does that sound familiar? Does to me. Presented with a new task, a new challenge, an "unknown" that requires learning and/or applying new skills, especially if those skills are displayed in a public forum where they can be evaluated as they are used, my confidence is as solid as butter in an oven. Why? Not sure, but I think I am beginning, at age 60, to get it. For most of my life, I have adapted but not identified; I have morphed into the shape that the environmental mold dictated because I knew of no shape of my own to become. Destiny was a girl's name, not my God-ordained purpose in life.

Our indentity is formed through contact with others. Our mother first, then depending upon our gender, we develop varying aspects of our identity in relationship to both our mother and our father. If those relationships are disrupted, disfigured, incomplete, lacking altogether, then we have an unhealthy template for developing an identity with our Heavenly Father, but we will identify with something or someone, even if it is not God.

The Bible talks of offering our lives as living sacrifices for God. That is the destiny of all believers, really the planned destiny of all people, though many do not fulfill that destiny. Before we are willing to sacrifice ourselves we have to have such a close relationship with Someone we trust that we see that sacrifice as purposeful, as part of our destiny. We have to see His love as unconditional and present regardless of our success or failure.

Each day we face challenges that turn us inward and tempt us to become self-absorbed and self-protective. In these moments, if we know God as Father and Jesus as Savior, we know His love is going to be there regardless of what we choose to do. Our need to be self-protective is removed, for we trust in One Who protects at all times, regardless of the physical, emotional, or spiritual danger in which we are placed. We know, even if we die, that He is there, and that He is in control. What liberation there is in having our identity vested in the only Person Who can validate us.

Every significant decision in life brings us back to the same truth: Our destiny is to turn to Him. Do we wander about looking for something else with which to identify or do we find ourselves in Him, the Someone who has established the destiny of every person, a destiny that is lived out in the small and the great moments, the quiet and the magnificent events, the tragic and triumphant circumstances of each of our lives.

I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: "O Lord, save me!" The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. Psalm 116:1-7