Teach and Share : IDENTITY

                                           

On Wednesday night, I was privileged enough to teach on ‘identity’ to the young women at the University of Essex. Here are my speaking notes I had prepared for the night, to give you an insight on what the Holy Spirit had placed on my heart to share with the young women at the conference…

Stop trying to validate yourself

-          Our self-concept and perception of ourselves cannot be rooted in our own achievements. Our intimacy and relationship with Christ, alongside the purity of our hearts before God because of the work of Christ is what means more than anything.

-          We have been chosen by God as His very own (1 Peter 2:9-10). We are whom He desired before the foundation of the earth to represent His glory. Our self- confidence should stem from the assurance that in the midst of His greatness, God still cares for us individually and calls us each by name.

-          Our value comes from being God’s daughters, through walking in the Spirit in Christ, not from the standard of perfection that the world sets and encourages us to conform to. Becoming into the likeness of Jesus is our goal.

-          It is important not to take it to the extreme and fail to appreciate/celebrate the blessings, gifts, talents, and development of our character, but these things cannot be our source of worthiness. These temporary things will fade, but the blood of Jesus that cleanses and redeems us has eternal value. (Hebrews 13:20) & ( Ephesians 1:7)

-          The reason for a lot of our insecurity is because our hope is not fully anchored in Jesus alone. We place our expectations, faith and security in this world and then wonder why we feel inadequate and consistently seek human validation. When you are assured of what the WORD says about you as a prized possession of God, you are able to walk in light of what God declares. Why should our worth be shaken when we serve an unshakable God with unchanging words?

A woman who recognizes her true value and worth is aware that Jesus Christ must be the focal point of her entire being. She refuses to base her identity on exterior appearance, her job, her achievements or even her past. She believes that her new creation self is solely because of the completed work of her Saviour on the cross, not because of anything of her own doing.