SPIRITUAL IDENTITY
Your sense of value is rooted in your identity. This is true naturally and spiritually. Whether you’re dealing with poor self-esteem, a poverty mentality, or an abundance mentality, it is all rooted in your identity. For instance, it would be hard for Prince Charles to struggle with a poverty mentality because of his identity as a royal. So, when you’re looking at whatever thing you’re struggling with, it can be traced back to your identity. We all come from different backgrounds, we didn’t choose our parents or the family into which we were born or even the circumstances in which we were born. But we can choose Christ. Praise the Lord! We can all embrace a spiritual identity. In Christ, we are all on a level playing field. Hallelujah!
Who are you? In the bible we see how Moses identified with his natural identity when God called him to go to Pharoah – he saw himself as a stammerer. Gideon also identified with his natural identity when he said he said that his clan was the weakest and poorest, and that he was not eloquent.
Who does God say you are? Look at John the Baptist in John 1:19-23; when he was asked who he was, he said in verse 23, ”I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord”. That was his spiritual identity. He located himself in the Word of God. He located himself in the plans of God for his life.
John 1:19-23: Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ. “And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’as the prophet Isaiah said.”
In Romans 11:13, Apostle Paul said “For I speak to you Gentiles; in as much as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry.” Furthermore, in all the letters Paul wrote (except his epistle to the Philippians, Philemon and the First and Second Thessalonians) he would refer to himself as an Apostle. He took his office very seriously, so we must know our spiritual identity.
2 Corinthians 5:16 –18 (NKJV). “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
A lot of people want to tie us to our natural identity. The enemy wants to keep pulling us back and binding us to our natural identity. And unfortunately, for most of us, we are only conscious of our natural identity. Yet it is no match when it comes to spiritual warfare. We can’t go into spiritual warfare with our natural identity. This explains why when it comes to sin being unravelled and uncovered, we usually wonder how somebody of a ‘high level’ could be caught in a sinful act. Our natural identity is no match when it comes to sin because the flesh is weak.
If any man be in Christ he is a new creation, old things have passed away (2 Corinthians 5:17). The New Living Translation says that we are to stop evaluating others from a human point of view.
I pray that we will be delivered in Jesus’ Name, May we stop evaluating ourselves and others from a human point of view.