I believe it’s so important for us to know what our true identity is – not the ones that we gave ourselves…..or the ones someone else put on us. It’s important for us to know who God says we are.
For a very long time….(most of my life actually), I used to think that my identity was tied up in what I did. But I learned that what I did is not who I am. I’m still on this journey of discovering who I am, and I believe it’ll be a life-long journey – which is actually pretty exciting to me because I’m loving who I am now…..and I know there’s more that God want’s to reveal to me as my life continues to unfold.
I feel like God really started to reveal my true identity around 9 years ago. Maybe it started earlier, but that was when it really shifted for me. I had a major life disruption (I discuss the details in my book The Power of Your Smile) that led to me having 2 nervous breakdowns.
That was a really difficult season for me. It took a few years for me to fully recover. A lot of things were stripped (pruned) from my life during that painful season – relationships, trusted friendships……even my job was stripped away – which was extremely hard because so much of my identity at that time was tied up in what I did for a living. I didn’t know that that didn’t make me who I was – it was something I did.
So when all of those things were removed, I had a major identity crisis. I really didn’t know who I was anymore. I would literally look in the mirror sometimes and not recognize myself. I was in a very fragile place – and I needed so much healing. I found myself asking God over and over again…..who am I? Like, who am I…really? And what was His purpose for my life?
Well, like I said…this was a journey, and things didn’t happen overnight. But over time…..and I don’t really remember exactly when it happened, God began to teach me who I really was. There were some things He confirmed, some things that were new to me, and some things that (which I didn’t realize) had to fall away.
Jeremiah 1:5 is one of my favorite scriptures. It says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations”.
That first part, where God says “before I formed you in the womb, I knew you”, really blesses me, because it let’s me know that God, who created me, knows who I am. So as I was going through that difficult season, which….again….lasted years…..I started to ask God to show me who He created me to be. I asked Him to introduce me to ME.
Let me tell you…..from that point on, it’s been an incredible, uncomfortable, exciting, and sometimes painful journey. I didn’t realize that not only would God begin to reveal to me who I really am, but He also needed to prune away all of the stuff I’m not. All of the stuff that had accumulated over decades in my pysche, in my heart, in my soul, in my mind. All of the stuff that piled up on top of each other from so many life experiences.
He began to show me some false narratives that not only did I not know weren’t true, but I had no idea these narratives could even be challenged and – more importantly, discarded. That truth was mind-blowing for me. I learned I didn’t have to just accept every thought or belief at face value – I could actually question and qualify them.
I realized I had unknowingly been allowing negative and false narratives to dictate my life and tell me who I was. Things like…..I’m Unworthy…..I’m Unlovable……I’m Not Good Enough……I Have No Value……I’m Not Important……I’m Not Beautiful……I’m Not Gifted and Have Nothing Going For Myself……and on and on and on. (I’m being real and transparent y’all).
Do any of these sound familiar to you? Can you relate? Has the enemy been whispering these same things (or something like it) to you? What are some negative and false beliefs you’ve been struggling with?
Here is the TRUTH – those things are LIES. That is NOT what God says about you – it’s NOT what He says about me. Those things are NOT what God sees when He looks at us.
I mentioned Jeremiah 1:5 where God says ‘Before He formed me, He knew me’. Well, I learned there are so many wonderful scriptures in the Bible that tell us who God says we really are.
- God says we are fearfully and wonderfully made
- God says we are His masterpiece…created anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. (This speaks to our purpose)
- God says that we are His children; We’ve been created in His image and likeness; We are accepted and loved by Him
- God has anointed us, called us, chosen us, and forgiven us of all our sins
- We are more than conquerors through Christ
- We are victorious
- We are the head, and NOT the tail
- We are gifted and talented
- We are courageous, and triumphant through Christ
- We are strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might
- We are blessed all of our days – even when we don’t feel like it and nothing seems to be going right
- We are surrounded by God’s favor
- His goodness and mercy follow us all of our days
I’ve learned that when you know who you are in Christ Jesus, it makes you a threat to the enemy. He doesn’t want you to know your real identity because it makes you powerful. When you start moving in the knowledge and truth of who you are in Christ, you realize you can rebuke the enemy, you can rebuke those negative thoughts that are trying to hold you back and hold you down.
When you start walking in the knowledge of who you are in Christ, you realize you have power and authority in the name of Jesus to break chains, to tear down strongholds, to break the yokes of bondage, not only over yourself, but over your family, and for everyone that is connected to you.
This is why it’s so important that you know who you really are. You are a threat to the enemy…..and guess what? He knows it! He doesn’t want YOU to know it. So he’ll distract you with thoughts of limiting beliefs, lies, insecurities, and feelings of inadequacy. And yes, we all have insecurities and areas where we feel inadequate. But that’s NOT WHO WE ARE. It’s what we feel. Our feelings are not our identity.
It’s time for a paradigm shift, y’all.
So, from now on…whenever the enemy tries to come at you with those negative thoughts, I want you to remember you have the power and authority in Jesus’ name to rebuke them. And now that we’ve briefly touched on who you really are, you can start to replace those negative thoughts with what God says about you. That is TRUTH. And that’s how we can renew our minds and bring transformation to our lives.
This isn’t an overnight process. But it is something we can start to do right now. We can start doing this today. It’s what I had to learn to do years ago when my life was disrupted and I didn’t know who I was anymore. And I can tell you…..it works. I’m not perfect and I don’t always do this everyday. I forget that this is something I need to be proactive about on a daily basis. I get busy with life and I get stressed, and I get tired and weary. And in those moments, those negative thoughts start to subtly creep in, and if I’m not careful, I’ll start to believe them again.
But when I spend time with God, when I pray, He reminds me who I am. When I go back and read my journal, I can read what He spoke to me in my quiet moments with Him.
So, today, I want to encourage you to pray. Ask God to show you who you really are. Ask Him to reveal to you what He knew about you before He formed you in the womb (remember Jeremiah 1:5). Ask Him to open up the scriptures to you so you can read and understand what He says about you. Ask Him to give you the courage, grace, and strength to start walking it out.
We can do this family. With God’s grace, we can do this.
Heavenly Father, thank You for revealing to us who we really are. Who You say we are. Expose every lie that the enemy has placed in our thoughts and in our hearts that would come against Your word over us. Teach us and remind us to rebuke these lies in the name of Jesus, and to speak the truth of Your word not only over ourselves, but over our children, over our family, and over everyone that is connected to us. We thank You for the victory, in Jesus’ name. Amen
