I know who I am
As I was praising in church today to
the song ‘I know who I am’, I felt at such peace knowing that I had finally
come to a place of being comfortable with whom I am. Not dependent on what this
world says I am, who men think I am, what my family thinks I am, who social
media pressures me to act as if I am, but who GOD says I am.
Our identity as believers can be so
easily manipulated by the thoughts of others and even the enforcement of who
the media says we must be. Daily, we face the struggle of clinging to the word
of God as a source of trustworthy information of who we are and what we mean to
God. As we live our lives walking with Christ Jesus, we must disregard what the
world is constantly bombarding us with – the lies of unworthiness, immorality
and unbiblical standards. We are adored, highly favoured and beautifully valued
to the one true God, and to truly understand this we must declare what the WORD
says about us, over ourselves, so that GODS opinion resides in our hearts,
leaving no room for the twisted lies of our identity being rooted in anything
but Christ alone.
So let’s tackle some of the hard core
deceptive lies that this world pushes to feed to us, and fight back with one of
our most powerful weapons – the living, powerful, edifying word of God…
·
We
are not beautiful
This is the ONE! This society loves to pressure God’s children to look at
themselves and question the perfect work of their Creator. Psalms 139 tells us
that we are wonderfully and fearfully made, and that we ought to praise God in
thanksgiving for making each one of us so complexly. We are not just beings
formed in a rush, out of sudden mistake, or even built with fault, but rather
we are assured in verse 14 that we are the result of a loving Gods marvellous workmanship.
The media fuels this idea of superficial perfection that we are encouraged to
strive towards, which more times than not, distracts us from the holiness that
God Himself calls us to pursue. Do not even entertain feelings of self-doubt
and low self-esteem, but instead train yourself to numb yourself to the
opinions of man, and focus on the beautiful formation of your heart, as well as
the intricate carving of your exterior that the Mighty God Himself took time to
create and mould.
·
We
can never move on from the old reputation we used to have/we will always be attached
to the mistakes from our past which solidify our identity
Especially as a new believer, you can be attacked regularly with a ‘’do
you think you’re all holy now that you go to church regularly?’’ or ‘’you think
you’re better than everyone else now because of this new Jesus hype you’re on’’.
Both extremely frustrating, but both examples of ways in which this world will
convince us out of the true gift of salvation we have been granted through
Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:9 tells us ‘’ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.’’ When we come to a
point of repentance, God’s word claims that we are no longer defined by our
past sins or the dirt that we once walked in. But that now in Christ Jesus, we
are justified through our faith and are purified from all unrighteousness. 2
Corinthians 5:17 assures us that we are made new creations are Christ, and are
not labelled by our wrong doings pre-Christ, but because of the sacrifice at
Calvary, we no longer have to engulf ourselves in guilt and shame, which can
easily form our opinions of who we think we are. We must stand unapologetic of
the gospel of grace we have chosen to accept and believe, and KNOW that God now
sees us as His children through Jesus.
·
We
must compromise our standards of holiness just to feel as if we belong and are
accepted amongst the majority
The world loves to install this sense of fear within us that causes us to
belittle our beliefs so that they are muted to the point where people cannot
even tell you are a believer of Jesus Christ. Romans 12:2 instructs us to not
conform to this world, but instead to renew our minds daily by the word of God.
Our faith must not waver amongst non- believers, within a secular society or
even by those explicitly opposing what the bible teaches. We must keep our
standards set by Christ Himself through His holy word, to be what moulds the
way we act, the way we speak and the way we live daily. It is in His word alone
that we find the purest and most challenging guidelines of this journey to
eternity with Him, so allowing external influences to take charge of the way
you carry yourself as a believer is the easiest way to draw away from the
faith. Your standard is no longer set by Gods word, but by every opinion of
every person, and this has now caused you to rethink everything about who you
are in Him, because you’ve shifted in your relationship with God. The bible
talks consistently about our belonging to God through our faith in Jesus
Christ, and that through Him we receive the Spirit of God in which there is freedom;
freedom from strongholds and the counterfeit identification of this world.
·
We
are gaining nothing from our faith and being souled out for Jesus is a waste of
time
WHAT A LIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! It makes me cringe just thinking that so many
surrounding people have this mind set towards young people who are followers
and striving disciples of Jesus Christ. We gain more in Christ than we could
ever gain from such a sinful and ever changing society; we are gifted with
salvation, hope and the truest form of love we could not even comprehend. 1
Peter 2:9 – ‘’But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are
royal priests, a holy nation, Gods very own possession. As a result, you can
show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his
wonderful light.’’ Gods word calls us CHOSEN. We are chosen by God to uphold
His standard of holiness. HIS standard of purity. HIS standard of love. The
word tells us to hold tight to the hope that we have in Jesus as our personal
Saviour and to allow this to be the foundation of identity and all that we do.
We are declared as royalty, holy and God’s own possession. Can you even begin
to comprehend that? That the Creator of the universe sees each one of His
people and calls us His ‘very own possession’, that is of exceptional heavenly value
and worth. In Christ, we gain a confidence of an all knowing God, who despite
the wickedness of our sinful nature, delights in us still. He grants us favour in
the midst of our struggle and gives us authority through Jesus His Son, to
allow us to walk in these blessings that He has set aside for those who accept
the call to BE set apart for Him.
So be encouraged by the fact that
although this world will roar ten thousand different standards of who we are,
what we should be and who we are called to be, the reflection of Gods spoken desires
for His people are written in His never changing word. The ‘precious treasure’
title that God gives you is what stands forever. So treasure your identity in
Christ and pray for God to shield it carefully, so that regardless of who
claims to know who you are, your understanding of who you are is in absolute
sync with who God professes you are.
God bless you all!
CONTACT ME:
Email - kingdomambassadors@hotmail.com
Twitter: @_caitlinnunez
Instagram: @caitlinnunez
No comments:
Post a Comment