Who Am I? - Encouragement Café - September 21

Who Am I?
 By Jamy Whitaker

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  Psalm 139:13 NIV

We fall victim to societal pressure to believe that our appearance, status and possessions will make our lives better.  When we give into this notion, we are letting society construct our identity. 

The real question we need to ask ourselves is where does our identity come from? Another way to put this is: What types of things define a person?

Say, for example, you were to introduce yourself to someone you do not know: How would you define yourself?  Would you define yourself by your family relationships, by a professional title, or lack of one, or by where you live or go to church? 

People generally define themselves by age, intelligence, education, marital status, material things, and family.

Satan, the enemy, knows exactly how and where to attack each one of us.  He knows where we are vulnerable.  As Christians, we need to learn to recognize the lies and replace them with God’s truth.  Satan wants us to focus on our flaws and feelings of inadequacy, and then exhaust ourselves trying to hide them. 

God, on the other hand, wants us to focus on His acceptance, security and significance and thank Him for His promises that remind us of who we are in Him.  We need to remember that God is well pleased with us before we do anything, simply because we are His children.

God was there from the very beginning.  He spoke each one of us into our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13), at just the right time to be here now.  It was not by accident, nor was it a surprise to God.  We need to get rid of any image of ourselves that is not from God. 

We have to stop believing what others have said or how we have been labeled in the past and stop accepting how others define us.

This is a concept that I have struggled with for some time.  Honestly, it is so much easier for me to believe the negative than the positive about myself.  My insecurities about myself and falling victim to the lies started back in the first grade.  My teacher’s negative comments stuck with me. 

Throughout school, I became more swayed by what others thought about me.  Before long, I could not even begin to answer the question, who am I? 

I had no idea.  I had lost all sense of “me” and who I really was.  It took quite a while to break free from those lies.  In fact, if I let my defenses down, the lies and insecurities start to infiltrate my mind and try to take over even to this day.

When we let these lies take hold in our mind, we begin to feel as if we have to hide behind a mask.  That way, we can present to the world what we think they want to see.  In actuality, by listening to others instead of God to frame our identity, we are building a wall that masks who we truly are.

With the empowering of the Holy Spirit and prayer, we can start taking down this wall that has been built by others piece by piece to pave the path to victory — our identity in Christ.

When you start comparing others’ outside with your inside, you need to stop and be reminded what God says about you.

• Accepted (Romans 15:7)
• Chosen (Deuteronomy 14:2)
• Irreplaceable (1 Corinthians 12:18)
• Loved (1 John 4:19)
• Valued (Luke 12:7)
  Dear Heavenly Father, I come to You today loaded down with the burden of trying to be what others want me to be.  I ask that You take this from me and remind me that my identity comes from You alone.  You formed me for a specific purpose and plan. You do not make mistakes.  Therefore, help me to daily let my true identity in You shine forth.  In Your Precious Name, Amen.

© 2018 by Jamy Whitaker.  All rights reserved.

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