Philippians 3:3
“For we are the people of God if we worship in The Spirit of God and have our confidence rooted in Christ Jesus, not our own strength and abilities (flesh).”
Contrary to popular belief, you are not merely the sum of your experiences, positive or negative. You are the sum of what your Maker speaks over you. You can choose to agree with what He says and live out your true identity, filling out the shoes He's given you more and more day after day, or you can put your trust in your own experiences and let them define you. Many times I find my own self a mix of incongruous ideas pilfered from both of these places, but here are the two laid out plain.
If we base our identity on our accomplishments, successes, failures, tastes, interests, desires or preferences then we build the foundation of our identity on unsettled, constantly shifting, specs of sand. This is referred to as having confidence in the “flesh" in the Bible. And this practice is the sole cause of two seeming opposites who happen to actually be siblings: pride and depression, the most potent destroyers of the overflow of life and joy God intends us to have (Jn 10:10).
See, Jesus died for every person in the world’s entire history. Past, present, and future. “He died for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2)." When that happened, God forgave every sin anyone had ever done or will ever do. He unlocked the prison door that kept us from living fully alive. He knew we could not escape to freedom without His aid. We were made to live united with God and grow ever increasingly full of life, and joy, and solid reality. But the only way to do that fully is with Him, in His power.
So, He shaped His Son in the form of the key for the lock of our prison. His death on our behalf unlocked the door to our freedom. There are many passageways in this prison, many doors we may walk through, but His is the one which leads outside the razor topped walls; most merely take us from one cell block to the next - one man might, in an attempt to flee the prison of self-loathing depression, simply run to the padded room of tolerance where all things are tolerable but nothing is solid or substantial. He is trapped by new walls, but the effect is the same. Many say this is all there is in life, an endless variety of prison walls. But the joy I taste in Christ sings a freer tune. This freedom is not mandatory though. God is a true Dad, full of love and eager to grow His little ones into mature Selves. We have a will. We have choice. Countless choices in fact, which shape the Self we see as us in everyday life.
So, we work with Him. He unlocks the steel barred door keeping me from my real self and I take one step, His strength in my bones; then another, and another, in Him. A voice whispers, “I have sent you The Great Helper. He will guide you through the prison, tell you every turn you need to take and teach you all you need to know. He will empower you to do everything I ask of you. He will supply your every need and lead you to understanding. Receive Him for who He is. Lean on Him, trust Him, turn to Him, and talk with Him. He is my Spirit. I am with you."
When we receive Jesus, we receive his rescue from prison. Not a prison of this world but the prison of our selves - where we are constantly fixated on our own status and pleasure and pain. He opens me up to serve with acts of love, Him, my neighbors, as well as my self, in a way most healthy and beneficial to each. When we receive His Spirit we are connected with God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. His Spirit leads us into all truth and one of the first and most foundational truths is that we are adopted by God; the Father of all creation becomes our Father. And to bring that to full effect we must receive Him as Dad. Speak to him and say, “ I am your Daughter/Son, You are my High Father.”
This is your True Identity. God has said you are His child. He knows True Reality. Receive His words over you. Trust what He says in His Word above what you’ve heard, said, and experienced. He sees all the past, present, and future as they really are. He sees you through Jesus' blood: blameless, pure, and righteous. Trust what He sees. Speak your agreement with His perspective--actual reality. Receive the identity He sees you as: a dearly loved child of God.
That’s who you are. Receive it. Trust it. study it. Meditate on it. And live it. Then, walk with God and set others free.
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