You Are Not Your Failures and Mistakes!
Photo by Wesley Balten
Do you feel confident about who you are?
The truth about your identity—who you really are—can be found only in Jesus. When the odds are stacked against you and you’re at your weakest point, don’t look at your past to find out who you are.
Instead, to discover the truth, you need to know who you are in Christ.
God’s Opinion of Your Track Record
God isn’t overly concerned about the number of times you’ve failed. He’s focused on the learning that takes place as a result of failures and trials.
Every time the enemy attacks your identity, two things are happening:
1. God your Father is cheering you on from the sidelines. Imagine a proud dad who shows up to every game and every practice, who saves all the ribbons and trophies—that’s what God is like with you.
2. God your Father is also helping you win. Because you know Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit inside you to help you face the personal attacks that come your way.
You might feel like a failure. You may be afraid or worried. But remember—you are never all by yourself. No matter how many times you feel like you’ve messed up or dropped the ball, your Father is still with you.
You will always get another chance to stand up, brush yourself off, and start again.
Surviving Attacks on Your Identity
Everyone faces attacks on who they are. We shouldn’t be surprised when these attacks come—because they even happened to Jesus. In Matthew 4 the devil attacked our Savior’s identity as the Son of God.
“If You’re the Son of God…” the devil said.
That word if can get us in trouble sometimes.
What if we’ve messed up too many times?
What if God loves others, but He doesn’t really love us?
What if failure is just our nature?
The devil attacked Jesus’ identity when the Lord was feeling “extremely weak” (Matt. 4:2 TPT).
Many of us are also feeling extremely weak right now. It feels like we’ve faced one trial after another: the pandemic, chaos in our cities, loss of work, loss of hope, so many stories of death and destruction.
But no matter what happens around us, one thing remains true.
When we have given our lives to God and we’re listening to Him when He tells us, “This is who you are,” we have the ability to remain firm and strong in His truth.
That’s exactly what Jesus did. He held on to His true identity in God—what His Father said about Him, not what the enemy invited Him to believe—and as a result, the temptations and tests of life could not push Him over the edge into unbelief or sin.
We get to do the same thing. “I will believe what You say about me, God! Not anything else.”
Renewing the Mind: An Important “Identity Tool”
Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new creation. All that is related to the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new. (2 Cor. 5:17 TPT)
Everything you used to be without Jesus has been wiped away. You are an entirely new person.
If you have trouble believing this, or if you look at yourself and see only “ugly,” you need to learn how to see yourself the way God the Father sees you. No matter what the enemy tries to whisper to your heart, you are accepted in Jesus.
God doesn’t see you as a failure. He sees you as His precious, special child who can come to Him for everything.
It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
it was I who healed them. (Hos. 11:3 NIV)
Here’s One Way to Start Uncovering Your True Identity
Do you want to change your thoughts so they become full of hope and light?
Take some time to listen to God and read His Word. When a verse stands out to you, write it down and ask Him about it. Hear what He says to you about your spiritual identity.
If the enemy had the audacity to try to tempt Jesus about His identity, how much more will he try to do the same thing with us?
When attacked, Jesus responded clearly with God’s Word. That’s what we get to do when we write our True Identity Statement. We believe what God says about us and write it down—we declare who we are and bless our spirit, soul, and body. For Leon and me, this has been a great tool against any attack that comes.
If you want to learn more about writing your True Identity Statement, sign up for our workshop on July 25! When you know who you are, you can operate with boldness, hear God’s voice more clearly, and embrace your relationships with joy.
Interested in reading more about dating, relationships, and your walk with God? Here are a few articles on related topics:
For more information on sex, marriage, and finding the person who is right for you, get a copy of Becoming the One by Salomé Roat. Click here to learn more. The book is also available in Spanish.