RENT or OWN Simply check the box that applies.

You may recall the last time you applied for a loan or line of credit; that area on the application regarding where you live? It had a box for RENT and a box for OWN.  Simple instructions told you to check the box that applies.

That simple question says a lot about the applicant.  It tells the lender something of their place in life, where they are living.

We know that someone who rents, pays a monthly fee to live in the dwelling temporarily, yet isn’t in it for the long haul.  They eat, sleep, get their mail and operate from that address, yet are not responsible or accountable for the property in taxes, maintenance or committed to paying the debt.  They live there, but do not own.

An owner is someone who sought after the property and dwelling with a purpose, took the risk, made the financial investment and agreed to the commitment of securing the deed, maintaining and improving its condition and value, and pay the legal and financial costs.  They eat, sleep, work, manicure, improve, update, renovate and steward.  They own it.

Your identity is the dwelling in which you reside.  Do you rent or own?

If you rent, your identity really isn’t your own.  It’s an image you’ve taken from someone else. Maybe a parent, teacher, employer or religious leader labeled you something they saw or thought you should be. Maybe it’s an image you have taken on yourself out of fear and limitations through an experience. You live with it, yet it is merely a shell that limits you.  You can’t make improvements, change the color, remodel or update.  It’s not yours.  It costs you to live with it; you may wear it everyday, but it is really not your own.

Do you rent or do you own?

We all have our season of being a renter.  As a young girl, I made choices because of what I believed about myself and what others had communicated and labeled me. I was a girl, not too smart, not too valuable, and if you drove by my life, you would have seen the neglect.  I was a renter.  I lived an identity that wasn’t my own.

If you own your identity, you’ve taken the time to discover the strengths, talents and passion within it.  You’ve made the investment to develop your character, skills, and purpose.  Your identity isn’t one someone has given you or pressed upon you.  It’s not a label or nametag.  It’s what you’ve discovered and develop.  You took the time and risk to reframe, rebuild and landscape.  And when someone drives by, it’s like living in wide-open spaces.  You have freedom to be who you are without limits.  You own who you are and continue to steward your identity because you’ll leave it as a legacy.

The change for me came by way of GRACE.  Grace has a way of awakening us to the possibilities.  It called me to choose to own my identity.  The journey of discovery, the risk of stepping out and stepping up and the investment to develop myself as well as maintain this new image, has brought me into wide-open spaces.  It’s a great investment and a life work that has brought a freedom to live and leave a legacy.

Identity is the dwelling in which you reside.  Imagine you were filling out an application for LIFE.  In the area of the application regarding where you live there is a question. Do you RENT or do you OWN?

Simply check the box that applies.  It says a lot about you.