Confident in Our Identity

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We are created in God’s image. (Genesis 1:27)  But if we don’t know who God is, how can we know who we are?  It’s not enough to know scripture.  The only way to value ourselves properly is to know God Himself— intimately.  When we know Him through the Holy Spirit, He will show us scripture through His eyes of revelation. The lies will leave and we will become confident in our identity.

Scripture Distorted

Satan distorted scripture when tempting Jesus in the wilderness.  Jesus responded with scripture— confidently declaring the truth— the Word.  After several spiritual battles the devil left Him.  The truth set Jesus free from the devil’s temptations.  He won the battles by speaking the Word from the spiritual realm (the deepest part of His heart— His Spirit) and possibly the natural realm (His mouth) as well.  We must do the same!

God has given us spiritual armor and weapons. (Ephesians 6:10-17) We cannot fight our enemy with our own reasoning or will power. We fight by remaining one with God and His Word. (John 17:20-23) Our own reasoning comes from our soul— our mind, will and emotions.  The soul is vulnerable to the enemy’s lies. It must be taught and constantly renewed by the Spirit through God’s Word.  The devil wants to steal our identity in Christ— the image of God.  He wants us to dislike ourselves and others because in doing so we dislike our Creator. God wants us confident in our identity!

Growing in Knowledge and Wisdom

Jesus studied the Word from the time He was a child (Luke 2:41-52) but He wasn’t only gaining information.  Jesus learned from the Father through the Spirit.  He grew in knowledge and wisdom by deeply meditating on scripture through prayer. (Luke 5:16) For Jesus, all prayer was God’s Word and holding God’s Word in His heart was prayer.  He was one with the Father and never did anything or said anything that wasn’t what He saw the Father saying or doing.  Jesus is the image of the Father. (Colossians 1:15) He is God. (1 John 5:20) But as a human child growing up, He had to learn who He was.  Jesus grew to know His identity as the Son of God.  He grew to know the Father’s purpose for His life and obeyed without question.  

We Are Sons & Daughters

We are not God.  But we are sons and daughters of God!  We must be confident in our identity as born-again children of God. (John 3:1-8) God is Spirit (John 4:24) and we are one with Him.  But if we aren’t fully convinced of our value and identity by spending time with the Holy Spirit, we usually revert to living from the natural realm– our five senses, our body and soul. Without a dynamic spiritual relationship with God we depend on the affirmation of other people to build up our value and identity. But people do not determine who we are. Our value is measured by the cross and our identity is restored when we are born-again.

Religious Works

One of the biggest temptations for Christians is to try to prove to other Christians that we love God by “doing Christian things.”  Anytime we try to prove to who we are so others don’t look down on us there is a spiritual misunderstanding.  If we don’t know who we are in Christ, the littlest thing like being late for church (even if we’re late for doing something good) will cause us to fear what others think. God doesn’t want us to prove who we are in Christ.  He wants us to know who we are in Christ!

Fear and Shame Are Not Our Identity

If someone insults you for being late to church or puts you down for not serving the church in a certain capacity, that person doesn’t know who they are in Christ.  They live by their own fear and shame.  A real prophetic word from God will not shame you but up-lift you.  It may cause you to be in awe, but it will not demand from you.  A correction can be a word of wisdom from God if it comes from a loving heart.  By the same token, if you harbor a stronghold of fear and shame, every loving warning will seem offensive.

If you walk by the Spirit you will learn to be confident in your identity as a child of God. You will be able to accept correction as a brother’s attempt to love you. And if a truly offensive person casts words of fear and shame toward you they will not go into your heart.  You won’t even have to defend yourself by telling them all you are doing for God secretly.  Fear and shame are not our identity.  They lead us away from grace. Put on God’s armor– His presence– (Romans 13:14) and love genuinely from the heart (1 Peter 1:22) because you know who you are.

God is Our Identity

God is love, so we are loving like our Father. (1 John 4:7-8) Jesus is the truth, so in Him we are truthful. (1 John 2:21) The Lord is compassionate, so we show compassion from the heart. (Ephesians 4:32) We are born-again into His image by the Holy Spirit.  Faith in our identity can grow so that we become more like Him in character– but not without the power of a relationship with Him.

Religious Spirits

The spiritual teachers of Jesus’ day knew scripture so well but weren’t humble enough to ask the Holy Spirit if their hearts needed to change.  Instead, they consulted one other and created doctrines that supported their selfish desires.  They didn’t know who they were as God’s people because they didn’t know God personally.  Human reasoning conveniently became their god.  When the Holy Spirit tried to speak to them through Jesus they hated Him and eventually killed Him. (John 8:44)

You Can Know God by the Spirit

Because our faith is in Jesus we are born-again by the Spirit. We need to know God through the spiritual realm. God has seated us with Him spiritually in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 2:6) Jesus communicated with God in the same way, seated with God in the Holy Spirit.  Communing with God is deeper than just saying a prayer and hoping God will hear it.  It’s believing that we really are in His presence and can ask Him for anything because He loves us. (Hebrews 4:14-16) God has great plans for us in His Kingdom. He wants us to be free from fear so we accomplish His will on earth. Living God’s purpose for our lives starts with being confident in our identity in Him.

As an amazing son or daughter of God, (Psalm 139:14) He created you in His image, richly unique for His glory.  God did not save you to merely exist in spiritual poverty.  He has brought you to Himself and filled you with His Spirit. You lack nothing. (Psalm 23) What the enemy has stolen from you, God will restore in His powerful loving presence.  You will serve others motivated by God’s love instead of the religious fear of what people may think of you. So, live from the heavenly realms of the Spirit and ask God how you can be confident in your identity in Christ!