Time: Oct. 29th, 2020 08:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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6 Objectives :
1. When you don’t know who you truly are.
2. We must stop Hiding
3. Craving Self-Acceptance
4. Dealing with Self-Rejection
5. Loss of Identity
6. Be For Yourself, Not Against Yourself
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Not knowing who we truly are causes confusion, lack of fulfillment, and emotional misery!
False Identities:
Many people create false identities and pretend to be something that they are not.
Tough Exterior:
For instance, if we are afraid to be vulnerable, we may develop a tough exterior to keep anyone from thinking we are weak or needy.
The Fear of What People Think….
1. The fear of what people think of us and craving their approval may cause us to alter our personalities in an effort to be whatever we think they want us to be instead of enjoying the freedom of being ourselves.
Chameleons
* Are Lizards
* Have an Ability to change colors to blend in to surroundings
* They do this to protect themselves from predators
How do we Develop False Identities
1. We do this to protect ourselves from Rejection!
2. It is quite common for wounded people who fear rejection to become people pleasers, living their lives according to what other people think they should be and do instead of finding and becoming their true selves.
3. We are never FREE until we are FREE to be ourselves
4. The world pressures us to fit into a certain image they approve of.
5. If we don’t fit into the world’s molds and images, we will be unacceptable and therefore, REJECTED.
Relationship
We often spend more time in relationships trying not to be rejected than we do building healthy connections.
Born Anew
When we receive Jesus as our Savior, according to Scripture, we are born again, or born anew. It is a point in our lives where we are invited to let go of anything old and fully become the amazing person that God originally intended us to be before our experience with the world and sine wounded us.
We are made new, and life is filled with possibility. We become like new spiritual play, and by allowing the Holy Spirit to mold us, rather than letting the world do it, we can become our true selves.
Are You Tired of Hiding?
A. Pretending is just a form of HIDING.
B. We hide who we truly want to be and pretend to be something that we believe will protect us, or something that we think is expected of us.
Who are you today?
A. Our True identity is not found in what we do, but in who we are as individuals.
B. The kind of person we are is more important than what we do.
C. Your character is not made up to be someone else; be yourself.
D. You were not created by Go to follow but to lead!
E. The Holy Spirit will mold you into the image of Jesus Christ.
F. Let Jesus shine through your unique gifts and temperaments.
“Regular Woman”
A. You can’t be like the “Regular Woman”.
B. God didn’t make you like that.
C. God will not help us to do something He has not gifted or asked us to do.
D. The more you try to “fit in”, the worst you will feel.
Destructive Cycle - Page 78
1. Joyce said, “The destructive cycle of trying to do things and failing will continue until we learn to be ouragesious enough to be ourself.
2. All the trying and failing will frustrate you and you will take your frustrations out on people you love the most.
3. Find out what you enjoy doing!
4. God will never help you to be someone else.
5. He has gifted you to be able to o something special, but it may not be what other people are doing.
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Take some time and search your heart to discover what you love, and then find the courage in Christ to do it. Even if what you desire to do is something that has never been done before, remember that there is always someone who is the first at everything.
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When you find your True Self…
A. When you find your True Self, you find a place where you are comfortable with yourself.
B. You easily function in the role you choose in life and you bear good fruit.
C. Pretending to be something that you truly are not is like wearing clothes that are extremely tight fitting. You are in them, but you are never comfortable.
D. Being yourself is like wearing your most comfy clothes and sitting in your favorite overstuffed chair.
E. The only role you can ever be really comfortable with is the one where you play your true self.
Self Questions: - Ask these questions to find your true self so you can become the you God created you to be.
Have you found your sweet spot in Life?
Are you comfortable being you?
How much do you compare yourself with others, and perhaps try to become someone you are not?
Self-Acceptance - Page 79
1. We all crave acceptance, but the greatest need we have is to accept our unique selves.
2. The more you accept yourself, the more other people accepts you.
3. When you reject yourself and waste your time trying to be someone that you're not, other people often reject you.
4. The Bible does say that we get what we Believe (Matthew 8:13) and our thoughts can become our reality (Proverbs 23:7)
5. We behave according to what we believe, and our behavior affects how other people feel about us.
If we act confidently…
1. If we act confidently, it causes other people to put their confidence in us.
2. But if we do not act confidently, it causes others to lack confidence in us.
3. If you want people to have confidence, you must first have confidence in yourself.
4. Believe you can and you are halfway there.
5. As a Child of God, you can be confident in Christ, knowing that He is always with you and ready to help you do whatever you need to do in life.
Self-Rejection
1. Before you can accept yourself, you must stop rejecting yourself.
2. A Well-known minister and author said “The Greatest Trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but Self-Rejection!"
3. He also said, “Self-Rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the Beloved.”
4. Our true self is one who is the beloved of God. Every other identity is a false one.
5. If we know we are God’s beloved, it gives us confidence to step into our true destiny, whatever that my be.
6. Whatever our true destiny is, it isn’t nearly as important as us being comfortable with what it is.
7. In order to find healing for our souls, it is important to allow the Word of God to define us rather than allowing the world to define us.
8. When our time in this world comes to an end, the only opinion that will matter is God’s, so don’t waste your life being overly concerned about what other people think of you.
The World Places Labels
A. The world places labels on people - wounded, abused, betrayed, divorced, rebel, victim, damaged, and so on.
B. We allow the labels of the world to become our identity and it begins to define us.
C. We believe the world, it’s because we have forgotten what God says about us.
What does God say about us: (1 Peter 2:9)
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God’s] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display th virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out the darkness into He marvelous light!
You are:
1. A Chosen Race
2. You are Special
Setting Our Minds - Colossians 3:2-3
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- Your new real life is hidden with Christ in God!
- You do have a real life, a true self, but it can only be found in Christ.
- The birth of that true self occurs when you become a child of God through the new birth (receiving Jesus as your Savior.)
- Ephesians 4:24 - Page 81
“Now, put on the new person that God is calling you to be. Step out by faith in Him and shake off all the old labels. Call yourself the Beloved of God, confident, accepted, and strong in Him!"
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Loss of Identity - bottom of page 81
Satan works hard to make sure either that we never know our identity as God’s beloved child or that somewhere along our journey in life we lose the sense of that truth.
The Bourne Identity - Jason Bourne
Amnesia - "He did not know who I am or where I am going!”
Jason Bourne had all the skills required to not be afraid of anyone or anything, but because he didn’t know who he was, he functioned in fear and desperation.
Spiritual Amnesia - I didn’t know who I was in God. I didn’t know that I was His beloved.
Nugget: So many of us are running from something, to somewhere—but it’s impossible to know where we are going if we don’t know who we are.
Nugget: God’s fingerprints are all over our lives, and as we search Him out, th pieces begin to fall into place. Ultimately, we find our true self— our true identity — is only in Christ, and only then do we find out where we are going with our lives.
You are a new creature in Christ; you are His Beloved.
- Unique
- Treasured
- Valued
- Desired by God Himself.
He Loved You Enough
Die in Your Place
Take away all the punishment for your sins.
Be For YOURSELF, Not Against Yourself
“If God is for us, who an be against us!” Roman 8:31