I’m worthless. I’m insignificant. I’m inadequate. I’m incompetent. I’m fearful. I’m weak.
Do any of these sound familiar to you?
These are the lies the enemy whispers to each of us. It is his goal to trick us into believing these lies as truths. He greatly desires for us to claim these lies as our identity.
But this is not how our God, Creator of the heavens and the earth and of you and me, views any of us. He sees us as:
→ Beautiful creations made in His own image (Genesis 1:27)
→Chosen people, holy and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12)
→A special possession (1 Peter 2:9)
→Chosen and appointed so that we might go and bear fruit (John 15:16)
→Strong and courageous (Joshua 1:9)
→Equipped with everything good for doing His will (Hebrews 13: 21)
→Valuable to Him, more so than any other thing He created (Matthew 6:26)
→Holy and blameless in His sight and predestined for adoption to sonship through His son Jesus (Ephesians 1: 4-6)
→ A great delight and rejoices over each one of us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).
These are the truths that we must hold fast too!
I know as a Christian, it often can be difficult to not fall victim to the lies of the enemy. He has infiltrated the media and he has established his lies as truth. We are fed his lies from early on that they become ingrained in us. This is why, we as Christians must be diligent in reading God’s Word consistently. In Ephesians 6:17, Paul instructs us to take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Of all the armor Paul mentions, the sword is the only armor for a defensive strike against the enemy. If we do not know God’s Word, then we are left vulnerable and weak to his constant attacks. When we do not know God’s Word, it becomes difficult to distinguish between the enemies lies. We are ill-equipped and unprepared to stand against him as we waiver in self-doubt, pity, guilt and shame.
In Judges 6, we are introduced to Gideon. He is described as a lowly man, the least in his family, from the weakest clan, Manasseh. Here is a man who does not think highly of himself and when we meet him in the story, we find him cowardly threshing wheat in a winepress. He is living during a time where the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord. Most likely they were not in the Word and distant from Him.
Yet, what we see next is truly amazing. The angel of the Lord comes to Gideon and appears to him. He tells Gideon that God has chosen him to strike down all the Midianites and even refers to him as a mighty warrior (vs. 12). Interestingly, Gideon doesn’t even acknowledge the Lord calling him a mighty warrior.
How often is our response the same as Gideon’s?
The Lord has given us His Word and He has poured out His heart for us. He desires for us to know Him and to know His love for us. When we bask in His truths, it penetrates deep into our hearts and minds. It transforms the way we see, think and feel about ourselves. When we see ourselves from God’s perspective, we let go of all the lies- weak, fearful, incompetent, inadequate, worthless, rejected, insignificant, and we take on a new identity- strong, courageous, capable, gifted, valuable, accepted and special.
“Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old has passed away and the new has come” 2 Corinthians 5:17
As Christians made new in Christ, we must take on a new perspective. We must see ourselves from God’s perspective and not the world’s. We must wholeheartedly believe God’s truths about us and recite them endlessly until they take hold of our hearts and minds and cast out the lies.
After we affirm our identities in Christ, we must look outward to those closest to us. Who in our immediate circles can we impart this new found perspective?
As a parent, my primary focus are my children. As we look at Scripture, it is very evident that children are highly valued to God. In Matthew 19:13-14, “people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’ When He had placed His hands on them, He went on from there.” Jesus saw the children from a different perspective. He saw the innocence of their heart and their child-like faith. He bestowed His blessing over them, validating their value and identity in Him.
In Psalm 127:3-5, it says that our “children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.” The enemy is very aware that our children are like “arrows in the hands of a warrior.” When we train up our children to know and trust in the Lord, when the time comes to release them into the world, they have their identity tethered firmly to Jesus. However, if we neglect to train up our children, we release them over to the enemy. He takes hold of them and imparts his lies onto their hearts and minds, making them useless weapons.
Our children are growing up in a culture that has very much turned away from God. This generation very much mimics the period of Gideon and is doing evil in the sight of the Lord. We must teach our children to view themselves through the lens of God. We must instill in them an identity rooted in Jesus. This is accomplished through daily Bible reading, family discussions, Scripture memorization, Bible studies, speaking Scripture over them and serving missionally. When our children see us living a life built on God’s truths, it’s much easier for them to follow in that path.
Now the Lord has not called us to stop at our children. In Acts 1:8, Jesus leaves us with this final command, “You will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere- in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We live in a broken world. Depression, anxiety, suicide, abortion, and abuse are rampant. People are hopeless and helpless. They speak negative talk, think poor thoughts and have low self-esteem. We have people choosing death over life. This is a real problem and we need to do something about it.
We need to bring light to the darkness; a change in perspective.
We need to be a witness to those living apart from God.
It’s as simple as sharing and declaring God’s truths over them. For many people, it may be the first time they ever hear that they are loved, special, important or valuable. We can begin unveiling the lies and revealing God’s truths to the world today.
Let us remember that, “Now He uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance raising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those that are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?” (2 Corinthians 2:14-16).
You see, we can say with confidence that we are adequate for the task for He has equipped us with everything we need to bring to completion His will. He has chosen us to be a life giving perfume that draws those around us to Him. When you live and breath Jesus it simply radiates from you. People recognize it right away because it is so different from anything else in this world. I pray that your sweet fragrance reaches the hearts of those feeling lowly and that it may give them a new perspective on who they are in God’s eyes.
Many Blessings!
SHARE: What lie are you believing? How can you shed the lie and live in God’s truth today?
The Sweet Taste of Grace 