In today’s Faith Friday it is all about how to live in your identity in Christ. We live in a world where we are identified through labels, or on the other end people fighting to dismantle them. We place our identity in things that do not identify us like our sins, flaws and insecurities.
The problem is we have been entrusting society to give us our identification instead of going to the One who created us. It’s like taking a broken Canon camera and taking it to a Nikon manufacturer. That doesn’t make any sense, because Nikon is not its creator, Canon is.
This is why I am here today to show you how to live in your identity which is in Christ despite your flaws, sins and insecurities – God can still use them for His glory. Let’s get to it.
Think of yourself as a mirror. What does a mirror do? It reflects an image.
Well, we are made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26). So, that means in order to live out your identity in Christ you must reflect the image of God.
But how do we do this?
Let’s look at James 1:22-25.
Let me break down this scripture for you.
“22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”
In verses 22-24, James is describing to us that not living out the word of God, not living out in our identity in Christ is as crazy and insane as looking at your reflection in the mirror, turning away from it and then forgetting how you look like.
James is painting us a picture here that the word of God is our mirror, it reflects the image of God but at the same time we are looking into our own reflection as we read the Word, because we are made in the image of God.
Let me break this down even further for you…
This means when you open the word of God, and you read those pages, it should be speaking to the image you were made in which is in God.
Therefore, for that reason even with your sins, flaws and insecurities you still go out and be a doer of the Word, you go and live in your identity in Christ.
But you may be telling yourself, “I still don’t how to live in my identity in Christ because all I see are my flaws, sins and/or insecurities”.
Don’t worry, I got you.
I’m going to help you change your perspective on how you view your flaws, sins and insecurities.
Let’s start off with flaws.
FLAWS
So, what are flaws?
Flaws make you believe that there is fault in you.
Now, maybe there is, but let me change the meaning of the word ‘flaw’ for you, see it as ‘follow law’.
If we continue from the James’ scripture in verse 25 it tells us how we can be doers of the Word and how we can live out our identity in Christ which is by following the “perfect law of liberty” and continuing to live “in it”.
What is the “perfect law of liberty”?
It is the moral law which is the 10 commandments which was then fulfilled by Jesus through the Greatest Commandments; to love God and to love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).
God’s perfect law set us free from bondage to sin into restoration of our identity in Christ.
God’s law is not to shame nor condemn you about your faults, it is a mandate to live out your truest nature which is in Jesus Christ.
The law is upheld through the righteousness of Jesus which you wear, so when you look at it, it is not only a reflection of who God is but also who you are becoming; to continually live in it.
So, when you miss the mark (sin), when a quality about you does not align with the law of God anchor yourself in it to produce quality attributes.
Up next, tackling sins.
SINS
So, what are sins?
View sins as you ‘missed the target’.
Okay, but what is the target?
The target is living righteously by God’s law, and we know this can ONLY be done through the help of the Holy Spirit.
Now, it is easy to get caught up in identifying yourself in your sins, allowing your sins to define who you are. But once you make sinning about you, you lose the objective that it testifies who Jesus is.
How? You may ask.
When you make the target about Jesus by walking in His righteousness, you understand that the righteousness you wear was a gift given by Jesus through His sacrifice for you. You don’t abuse it and you don’t take it for granted.
And because of His sacrifice you use your opportunities to choose to obey the Holy Spirit instead of following your flesh.
It may not be an easy choice, but it is a simple one.
The enemy can’t force you to sin, you choose to.
You don’t ‘fall’ into sin, you walk into it.
This is why it’s important to be filled with the Holy Spirit, because when you are, the enemy will tempt you, but you can easily resist him (Galatians 5:16-18).
So, temptation can come but you don’t aim your arrow at the sin target, you choose to extinguish it instead with the shield of faith.
You utilise your faith as a defence to get the enemy to miss the target at your flesh and not the other way round.
Whether you choose to be led by your flesh (yourself or the enemy) or to be led by the Spirit, you are choosing beyond who or what you want to be led by, you are choosing who or what you identify with.
I’d choose the Holy Spirit. What about you?
Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with His power and hit the bullseye on repentance the next time you miss the target.
Next up, insecurities.
INSECURITIES
What are insecurities?
They are areas about yourself you lack confidence in.
But what if I were to say you can change that around.
You have these insecurities because you are placing your confidence in the wrong thing or person.
You can’t place confidence in your flesh because it is not secure enough to sustain your confidence in it.
That’s why your confidence and your esteem fluctuate.
Your confidence should be placed in someone who is secure, who is the Holy Spirit, your ‘inner security’.
When you think of insecurity, when you become insecure about something, allow your mind to re-shift your focus and meaning to ‘boast in the inner security, who is the Holy Spirit’.
When you boast in God, you remove your focus from yourself, and you begin to place and anchor your confidence, trust and faith in God (Philippians 3:3-4).
Your worries become worship.
Your pain becomes praise.
Your insecurities become ‘inner security’ for the Holy Spirit to take territory and fill His power inside you.
Don’t lean on your flesh, materialistic gains and everything outside of Christ and that includes the faith-filled people around, because everything that is attached to these things or people you begin to identify with; your identification is worth more.
I hope this blog post helped to reshape your perspective of your flaws, sins and insecurities on how they do not identify you but instead can push you to live in your identity in Christ.
Stay Blessed,
Divine L.
Hi, I am Divine L., your sister-in-F.A.I.T.H., who is passionate about discipling Christian girls to be a walking embodiment of Jesus Christ in their daily lives and to help young girls and woman become who God destined for them to become. It is a great blessing to welcome you to the F.A.I.T.H. sisterhood!