Discover Your True Identity. You Matter!
Discover your true identity, and you can battle lies and live from the truth.
You know you have an enemy who lies, don’t you?
He is Satan, the father of lies. He and his demons tempt you to think rotten ideas about your worth. Have you heard thoughts like, “You aren’t good enough! You aren’t pretty enough! You aren’t strong enough!?”
The awesome news: You can replace the lies with the beautiful truth of your true identity. How does that sound? Knowing who you are matters!
Down, Down, Down
When you start to recognize lies, accept that noticing some of them may take time because they’ve become a habit. You’ve probably been repeating them to yourself for a long time. So no quick-fix expectation. Got it?
If you beat yourself up, you’re more likely to fall into temptations of all sorts. A lot of it looks good like the forbidden fruit on a certain tree in the Garden of Eden. When you’re feeling down and out, Satan and the world dangle treasures before your eyes, pretty things like new clothes, invites to parties, good health, a happy family, a big house or chic condo and stuff to fill them.
In hopes of feeling less afraid and more secure, you and I may feed our gods, hungry gods that help us feel special or important – like money and pleasure, others’ opinions of us, busyness, fame and privilege and honor.
But this is not who you are. Did you know this? You don’t have to get stuck in believing lies. Isn’t this refreshing? Did you know God will change your faulty thinking? That He’ll transform your thoughts?
Changing Faulty Thinking
God says you are beautiful and strong in Christ even when. . .
You lose your debit card.
A colleague steals your idea and gets the credit and a bonus.
Your daughter shoplifts a bottle of nail polish and is arrested.
Cancer strikes a good friend.
A bully harasses your son.
Your husband comes home late, again.
Here’s the truth. Every Christian is in Christ. This is a God-sized concept and reality that not one of us can fathom. Too tremendous for your mind.
According to the Bible, you die in Adam and are born again in Christ.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:22
You aren’t what you do. That’s performance. Your true identity is who you are in Christ. Click & Tweet! You change your faulty thinking when you embrace your true identity and stop banking on performance.
Adam (who lived in the Garden of Eden and ate forbidden fruit) died as a sinner. Jesus died for sinners. In Adam we’re cursed. In Christ we’re blessed. In Adam there’s condemnation. In Christ there’s salvation.
What God Says About You!
An excellent place in the Bible to discover your true identity is Ephesians 1:3-7. I’ve colored your identity words in blue.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.
In Christ you are blessed, chosen, holy, blameless, loves, predestined, adopted, redeemed, and forgiven. Which of these descriptors speak to your heart? Your radical new identity comes from putting off your old humanity and putting on the new you in Christ.
Make no mistake. This beautifully new and radical identity that you possess has nothing to do with anything you’ve done. It results from who Jesus is and what he has done. As one pastor wrote,
If you’re a Christian, here’s the good news: who you really are has nothing to do with you–how much you can accomplish, who you can become, your behavior, your strengths your weaknesses, your sordid past, for family background, your education, your looks and so on. Your identity is firmly anchored in Christ’s accomplishment, not yours; His strength, not yours; His performance, not yours; His victory, not yours.
What you and I do flows from who we are. Click & Tweet! Isn’t this amazing and comforting? It’s not about you. It’s all about God. Yes!
You live from your identity, not for your identity. Click & Tweet!
As you embrace your true identity in Christ, you’ll rightly handle the issues of live that come your way. Pretty cool, huh?
Resource for YOU!
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