The longer I walk with the Lord, the more obvious it is that what we actually believe about who we are and who God is, has far more weight than what we know to be true.
While the knowledge of truth sustains us through changing seasons, belief is what keeps us firmly rooted in our identities.
I’m at a place in my walk where I know all the truths, but do I really claim them as my own? Do I believe whole-heartedly that I‘m a righteous daughter of the King? Am I living freely in grace or bound by an illusion of slavery?
There is a difference between thought and belief.
Thoughts are rooted in knowledge, but belief is tied to identity. For example, I may know that God is trustworthy – I can read about the ways He is faithful and trustworthy as a Father and as a provider – but does my life reflect the fact that I truly believe God is a good and faithful Father?
Our culture tells us that we’re worthless, undeserving, ugly sinners – which makes it easy to adopt that perspective if we’re not intentional about being rooted in freedom and love and grace.
Our culture casts shame.
Our culture perpetuates perfectionism.
Our culture screams unworthiness.
Recently I’ve started adopting this “woe is me-I’m a reckless sinner and I’m just going to continue to fail-but thank God for grace” attitude about life and sin and my own personal struggles.
I’ve been really consumed with the ways I’ve been messing up and falling short and trying to “get my shit together” for lack of a better description. Sadly, this type of ideology creates a self-serving mindset, and keeps us focused on self and sin, instead of the beauty and freedom and relationship that we are called to, and have total access to.
The systemic belief that we are unworthy, hopeless sinners creates the illusion that there is a barrier between us and God that was never really there. When we believe that we are ugly, sinful creatures, we inevitably believe that God is out of reach, and we are unworthy of a relationship with Him – so we go on perpetuating a life of sin, insecurity, and loneliness, hoping that we can somehow earn the affirmation of God through works and “being good enough most of the time.”
It’s a toxic cycle that keeps us spiritually exhausted – fighting to stay afloat and striving for the affirmation that we already have.
The enemy has a way of taking our sin and magnifying it – hoping to blow it up enough that we start to claim it as our identity. To stir up pride, selfishness, and insecurity.
When you speak things like “I’m a hopeless sinner” or “I’m enslaved to this sin”, you claim that truth as your identity. You claim that freedom is not accessible to you. But God already paid the price for our freedom on the cross, it has already been finished.
God calls us righteous.
God calls us His beloved.
God calls us unique, gifted and beautiful.
We are his beloved – and THAT is our identity.
We are not the “heathen-scum-damned-to-Hell-sinners” that crazy street preachers speak us.
If God’s sole desire is to cultivate intimacy and love with us, then we must be pretty special, and we should own that!
When we abide in God, He literally doesn’t see our sin. He only sees us for who we truly are – beloved sons and daughters, called to love and be loved.
We are not called to live in self-pity and shame. We are called, through the beauty and intentionality of the Holy Spirit, to fight oppression, love those deemed unloveable, and live out an identity rooted in truth.
If we believe that we are righteous and set apart, instead of worthless and sinful, our identities are rooted in freedom and we become that much more aware of the Power of the Holy Spirit, which does not convict us of sin, but of the righteousness we are called to live in.
God has already purchased your freedom, and called you to sit at the table and feast with Him!
So stop speaking bondage over your identity and stop acting like you’re a slave when you’re a Son – beautiful, gifted, and loved.
When Jesus died, he offered up an inheritance to us – of eternal intimacy and relationship that’s sets us free from the bondage of addiction, insecurity, and loneliness. So own your identity as a son or daughter and believe you are worthy of love and relationship. Believe that the Holy Spirit has gifted you with special abilities which serve to be a platform of compassion, grace, and understanding to someone who needs it.
