Do You Know Who You Really Are?

Know Who You Are in Jesus!

Fruitful (John 15:16) — Power Filled (Acts 1:8) — Called (Romans 8:28) — Conqueror (Romans 8:37) — New Creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) — Ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20) — Blameless (Ephesians 1:4) — Forgiven (Ephesians 1:7) — Equipped (Philippians 4:19) — Chosen (Colossians 3:12) — Overcomer (1 John 4:4) — Protected (1 John 5:18)

You can only live up to the standard you know …

“I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind.” — The Apostle Paul (Romans 7:23 NLT)

I meet so many people today who berate themselves severely, not only because of their sin, but simply because they’re struggling against sin. They interpret the mere battle itself – whether it’s against a pattern of thinking or behaving or feeling – as the defining confirmation of their identity.

We all have these bents and leanings toward particular desires, and we all must determine to pull back against them throughout our lives. If we don’t, if we slip into neutral, they’ll drag us down. No doubt. But never forget this: those propensities don’t define us. They’re just the war zone where we struggle.

And there’s a difference.

My heart breaks when I see a person internalize a label based on a struggle they’re wrestling with. The line between who they are and what they’ve done or what they’ve experienced or how they feel becomes quickly blurred. They believe that they must be the thing that they are struggling with and start living down to that standard instead of living up to their authentic identity in Christ.

Separate your struggle from your identity – like Paul did. In the same book where he bravely exposed his failures and faults, he testifies of his status as “called” and “set apart” (Romans 1:1), “freed” from the curse of sin (Romans 6:18), unburdened by condemnation (Romans 8:1), a child of God and co-heir with Christ Jesus (Romans 8:16-17) and…a victorious overcomer (Romans 8:37).

That is who he was.

This is who you are.

You may have done something, you may feel something, you may have experienced something, but it doesn’t mean you are that thing.

You are who God says you are. Point blank. Period. Your identity is what God’s Word declares about you.

I’ll say it again: you are who God says you are. And not even your most intensive point of struggle can reconfigure the person He’s made you to be.