Having A Wrong Identity Can Steal From Us For A Lifetime
Where Our Wrong Identity Originates
How we self-identify hugely impacts who we are and how we live.
The reality is, even those of us who identify ourselves as belonging to Jesus, still struggle and suffer from spiritual identity theft. The first thing to understand is that we have an enemy whose true identity is, “murderer,” “father of lies” and “thief,” as seen in John 8:44 and John 10:10.
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:44
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 10:10
With that in mind, remember this:
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them,
because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
1 John 4:4
We know that we have a Savior. Our Savior Jesus spoke the words of John 8:44 and John 10:10. He wanted us to be aware of our enemy’s identity and his ways so that we recognize his work of bringing harm into our lives. One of the ways he harms us most is labeling us with a wrong identity that we carry until truth exposes his lies.
I believe that Jesus gave us both his and the devil’s purpose statement for our lives in John 10:10. Their purposes are polar opposites. Jesus said, the only reason that the enemy shows up in our lives is “to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” Ultimately bringing death is the devil’s work. Don’t think about death from the standpoint of only physical. The enemy wants to bring death to our callings, our relationships, goals, dreams, peace, joy, and the list could go on.
Jesus, on the other hand, brings life. Not just the living and breathing essence of existing life, but the absolute fullness of life. And not just the absolute fullness of life, He over throws that purpose with over-the-top, absolute fullness of life.
Where Our True Identity Originates
My oldest daughter, Taylor Draughn is a counselor and she says we cannot take a wrong identity and make it right apart from truly knowing who God is. The reason knowing the true nature, character, and identity of God is so important is because we belong to Him. As 1 John 4:4 tells us, “You are of God.” Our true identity is found in our God.
Knowing this, gives us a major reason to read the Bible and stay in the Bible. We can’t have a true and right understanding of God from what other people tell us or from our experiences. We need a solid, immovable, standard of truth – i.e. God’s word.
God’s Word gives us a way to know who He is, His nature and character, as well as, revealing to us our true “in Christ” identity. Once we are “in Christ” we are new, not who we once were.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17
I want you to take a minute and let the fullness of this verse sink in.
Who you once were is dead. Your old identity is dead.
For me, two major ways that I identified myself as long as I can remember was, “I am bad” and “I am rebellious.” And yes, from my early teenage years until I met Jesus at 30, I lived that identity out. Which is what we all do. We live out of who we believe we are. Because I lived out of that I am “bad and rebellious” identity, I lived in sin and experienced other life situations that labeled me with other damaging and defeating identities. Two failed marriages later, “I am a failure.” Sin heaped upon sin, “I am unforgiven.”
When you have an identity like that, “I am bad, rebellious, a failure, and unforgiven, you need a new identity. But we can’t get that new identity on our own. We need a Savior who buries our old character and gives us His identity.
Maybe my labels of bad, rebellious, failure, and unforgiven aren’t your labels. Other labels that I see women identify with are: Unlovable, Not Good Enough, Overwhelmed, Crazy, Depressed, Ugly, Not Beautiful Enough, Not Smart Enough, Victim, and It’s All About Me.
Do any of these register with you as your own identity label?
While we recognize that we do have an enemy, we also know his way of getting to us is through lies and deception. The only way we can combat that is by replacing the lies with truth.
First, the truth we need to know is that Jesus Christ is greater than our enemy! (1 John 4:4)
Second, we need to know that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
Third, we pinpoint our old identity lies and replace them with our new identity truths.
My Own Example:
My old identity: “I am bad.”
The Truth about my new identity:
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,
that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21
My new identity: I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
My old identity: “I am rebellious.”
The Truth about my new identity:
For who He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Romans 8:29
My new identity: I am predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ Jesus.
Once I rid myself of that old identity and correctly identify myself, my mind, my actions, my emotions, my relationships, and all the details of my life change.
Think about how me identifying myself as the righteousness of God in Jesus and as predestined to be conformed to Christ’s image changes everything.
I encourage you to pray and ask God if you have any wrong identity that needs to be replaced with the truth of who you are in Christ Jesus. Remember that we have the Holy Spirit who can help us monitor and evaluate what is going on in our spiritual and emotional lives. And no one wants you to know the truth more than God Himself. But seeking God and discovering truth is up to us.
So dear Sister, if I could shout it from the mountaintop I would, WE NEED GOD’S WORD! To overcome a wrong identity will not happen apart from what God says about us!
