Day 166 - Power of Identity

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"The moment I got the idea in my head that God loves me for what He placed in me, not for what I bring to the table, I turned down the path of healing that has brought me to this point today."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 131.

How many times have I wished that I could hang on to a thought in a way as to make permanent change in my life. Such is the case with the idea as to why God loves me. God doesn't love me because of some skill I have in my life. He doesn't love me because of my ability to do something for Him in this world. His love for me is predicated on something much more profound and long lasting than something as common place and temporary as my actions. He loves me because of what He has placed inside of me - His very own spirit. 

Victim thinking can't help but to happen when I think I somehow am able to please my God in a way that makes Him more proud of me by what I might be able to do for Him. Sure, God is pleased when His children choose to obey Him. But, that pleasure isn't something that makes one bit of difference when it comes to how He views us. Sad thing about allowing our actions to be the basis of how we view our lives in light of this God we serve is that we set ourselves up for failure when we look anywhere than to God Himself for proof of who we are. 

You see, it is what God says about us that makes all the difference between being bound up in victim thinking or freed up to victor living. The Bible backs me up on this subject. I did a quick search on "who am I in Christ" and found over 90 Bible verses that make clear and profound statements of the characteristics of my God given identity. In place of today's Bible reading, I want to speak out loud some of these characteristics for you to listen to and absorb in your life today. Here's but a sampling of what God says is the very make up of who we are in Christ...

I am loved. 1 John 3:3

I am accepted. Ephesians 1:6

I am a child of God. John 1:12

I am His Friend. John 15:14

I am an heir. Romans 8:17

I am at one with God. 1 Corinthians 6:17

I am special. 1 Corinthians 6:19

I am someone who belongs. 1 Corinthians 12:27

I am a Saint. Ephesians 1:1

I am OK. Colossians 1:14

I am complete. Colossians 2:10

I am answered. James 1:5

I am free. Romans 8:1

I am a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17

I am established, anointed, and sealed. 2 Corinthians 1:21

I am powerful, loving sound and not fearful. 2 Timothy 1:7

I am worthy. 2 Corinthians 6:1

I am included. Eph 2:6

I am listened to. Ephesians. 2:18

I am chosen. John 15:16

I am solid. 1 Peter 2:5

I am never alone. Hebrews. 13:5

I am more than capable. Philippians 2:13

This is how God sees us! If I find myself capable of doing just five or six of those things I think pretty highly of myself. God sees us as all these things and more through what Jesus did on the cross for us. If that doesn't make you feel more free and alive I don't know what will. 

That's why it is so dangerous to rely on worldly proofs of who we are. To be blunt, you and I simply aren't good enough to come close to making happen even a small portion of what this list portrays. Trying on our own to live up to such an amazing list of attributes is nothing more than pure and simple insanity. 

Yet allowing ourselves to live in that insanity is exactly what we do when we choose to try and earn what God gives so freely. Victim thinking is the epitome of insanity as we turn to the world to try and be what this list paints as the picture of what God already sees us to be. It is so simple to just believe what He says about us but so hard to let that belief be what drives us in this world. 

That's why I said earlier, I wish I could just get the thought that God loves me for what He placed inside of me in my head in a way that permanent change could truly happen. Good news is that that thought is starting to take root in ways where I'm less apt to let victim thinking take over like it has in the past. I hope these presentations are allowing that same thing to happen in your life as well. 

In the meantime all we can do is live out our lives recognizing when victim thinking tendencies are starting to take hold and letting God be the power behind removing those tendencies. Take time today to let the fact that God has placed in you all you need to be in order to let victor living be what it is suppose to be in your life. Relying on anything else is simply a waste of time. Let the freedom of your God-given identity be what makes your day be all it can be today.