Lies that I have believed:
1. You have to look a certain way to be attractive.
2. Money=success
3. Beauty means you’re worth loving.
4. Conformity means fitting in and fitting in is good
5. Emotions make you vulnerable and being vulnerable makes you weak.
The Lord has definitely freed me from lies that the world has been feeding me. I’ve learned that the more I look to God, the more that He is going to reveal to me who I truly am and who He has created me to be. The closer I get with Him, the more my identity is going to be established in Him. And the closer my identity is in Him, the more He is going to reveal who I truly am. And the more lies that are going to be uncovered. I know that there is so much more to be uncovered, but I can honestly tell you that this is the most freeing thing I have ever experienced.
Ever since I have found my true identity in Christ, I now know what is true and what is a lie. I am telling you people, the best thing you can do is anchor yourself in the Lord and let Him speak what is true over you. As a result, you can walk in freedom instead of being bound by what the world and the enemy says about you. I don’t mean for this to sound like a cheesy infomercial, but it really is life changing news, and I challenge you to listen to what the Lord says about you. Spoiler Alert: He’s gunna tell you that you’re His child who can partake in His inheritance. And there is so much more to his inheritance than just sheep and bulls! He freely gives wisdom (@Solomon) and any other part of His character. One of the coolest characteristics of the Lord to me is that He withholds nothing from us. Think about that for a second. Anything that is His, is also ours. He gives us the authority to go out and perform miracles in His name and drive out demons.
So what does it actually look like to me to have my identity in Christ? For 18 long years, I have created several false identities for myself that I thought would make me happy. I dressed a certain way in hopes of getting attention and feeling loved. I went to college only to get a degree and make money. I would change the way I acted because fitting in was the cool thing to do. I acted like I had it all together without a worry in the world. Struggling painted me in a bad light and that is not how I wanted to be perceived. Sadly, I would hardly opened up to anyone because I didn’t want people to think I was weak. The worst part about all of this was that if you would have asked me if I had any false identities, I would have told you no because I knew that was the Biblical answer. But, my fruit would have told you otherwise.
Ultimately, all of those lies boil down to wanting to be loved at the end of the day. The one thing that Jesus made clear was that the greatest thing we could do is love; love God and love others. Is it a coincidence that the thing we crave most in life is what God is so abundantly rich in? I think not. He is the purest form of love. We all have an identity that is in Christ simply because He created us; whether we choose to walk in that or not is our choice.
Truth that I now walk in:
1. You were created in God’s perfect image and lack nothing. Comparison is the stealer of joy. (Jeremiah 1:5)
2. Success is not found in the items of this world that will eventually wither away, but rather in how well we follow the plan God has created specifically for us. (1 John 2:17)
3. You are worth far more than the most precious gems because you are the princes and princess of the kingdom of heaven. (Proverbs 31:10)
4. We are not meant to conform to this world and it’s ways. (James 4:4)
5. Everyone will face struggles. God did not tell us this life would be easy (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
