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Discovering and Understanding
YOUR TRUE IDENTITY
by Joyce Meyer
Each one of us is a rare, one-of-a-kind person. We each have a God-given destiny to fulfill—a unique call that only we can carry out. But in order to reach our full potential and truly succeed in life,
we must learn to accept ourselves for who we are.
Over the years I have learned that the foundation for success is knowing who we are in Christ. This is our true identity. This understanding comes through learning what God says about us in His Word and then 
getting our mind and mouth in agreement with it. As you and I begin to think and
speak the things that God says about us instead of focusing on our weaknesses, we will find the freedom to be ourselves and experience success in all areas of our lives.

The Difference Between Your “Who” and Your “Do”
When I first started walking with the Lord, I was very negative about everything and everybody, including myself.
 I had a very poor self-image because my thinking was very performance oriented.
I had been conditioned to believe from childhood that the better I behaved, the more love and acceptance I would receive. And since I didn’t know any better,
I took this mindset into my relationship with God.

Deep in my heart, I knew God had everything I needed. So I thought the better I behaved, the more God would love and accept me.
But this created a growing problem because I was never able
to act right all the time. I was constantly working and striving to overcome my weaknesses and be good enough to get into God’s good graces.
 I was weary, worn-out and lacked self-worth. And that
was exactly where Satan wanted me.
I cried many tears for many years, thinking I was a failure because I couldn’t measure up to God’s standards.  But God, in His mercy, led me to 2 Corinthians 5:21 which says, For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin,
so that in and through Him we might become…the righteousness of God
 [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with
  Him, by His goodness].
Through knowledge of the Word, I finally began to understand that my self-worth is not in what I do—it’s in what Jesus did.
 As a Christian, my who—or who I am—is not based on my behavior or
what I do; my identity is in Christ. There is nothing that you and I can do to work our way into right relationship with God.
   1 .  When we are born again, God looks at us and sees the righteousness
  of Christ, not everything we’ve done wrong.
  Even when we make mistakes, Jesus understands our weaknesses. Hebrews 4:15   says He was tempted in every respect as we are -yet without sinning...
 Jesus left His throne in heaven and was born a man of flesh and blood just like we are. So He knows what we are up against  if we do something wrong,
 all we need to do is ask Him to forgive us and wash away our sin with His
blood.

  2 He is not waiting for us to have a perfect performance before He answers our prayers. All He wants is for us to love Him with our whole heart and desire to do His Will.
I came to the realization that if God was willing to accept me as I was, then I needed to accept myself too.
 In Jeremiah 1:5 God says, Before I formed you in the womb I knew and approved of
you…. If God approves of us, knowing all the wrong we will ever do, then you and I have no right to disapprove of ourselves

Line Up Your Mind and Mouth with the Master
I believe what God wants more than anything is for us to get our minds and mouths in agreement with His Word.
 This is very important to developing the confidence in Christ that we need to
succeed. Psalm 119:11 says, Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You. 
And Jesus said, …out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart [the] mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).

Satan is always busy trying to keep us out of God’s Word. He wants us to think and talk about all our faults, failures and weaknesses.
 He wants us to go around from daylight till dark saying how awful we are.
 Why? Because he knows we believe what we think and say about ourselves more
than what anybody else says about us.
Realize that if we accept the condemning thoughts of the enemy, we cannot walk in the confidence of who we are in Christ.
 We cannot have confidence and condemnation at the same time.

 I John 3:21,22 says, …if our consciences (our hearts) do not accuse us 
  {if they do not make us feel guilty and condemn us},
 we have confidence (complete assurance and boldness) before God, and we
 receive from Him whatever we ask…. So it’s very important that  we  keep ...consciences clear.
When we do something wrong, we need to ask God to forgive us, receive his forgiveness, and go on with the Lord.
Instead of receiving the accusations of the enemy, we need to cast them down with the truth.
When Satan brings his thoughts of condemnation, we can say,

“There’s no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus".
 3. I am the apple of God’s eye and He loves me.

 4. As far as the east is from the west,
  so far has He removed my transgressions from me.

 5. When you and I meditate on and speak God's Word,
 Satan’s lies will be swallowed by truth and our confidence in Christ will increase.
You Can Do All Things Through Christ!
I have come to the conclusion that we cannot place our confidence in anything else but Christ alone.
 Philippians  3:3 says, For we [Christians]…exult and glory and pride ourselves in Jesus Christ, and put no confidence or dependence [on what we are]
 in the flesh and on outward privileges and physical advantages and
external appearances.
God does not want us to trust or have our value in our physical appearance, talents, education, job, children, friendsl religion or anything else.

He wants us to find our worth and place our confidence in Christ alone.
Apart from Him, we can do nothing .. see John 15:5

 But [we] can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth [us] (Philippians 4:13 KJV).
I encourage you to accept yourself in spite of your weaknesses—God does. Make the decision to get your mind and your mouth in line with His Word.
 Start proclaiming the positive promises of Scripture over your life,
and you will discover that His grace to succeed, is all you need!
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(1) See Ephesians 2:8,9. (2) See 1 John 1:9. (3) See Romans 8:1. (4) See Zechariah 2:8. (5) See Psalm 103:12.