Our pastor has been teaching about our identity in Christ in our young adult Sunday School class. Simply put, it's been AMAZING. I have always struggled with confidence, and it's been so encouraging realizing that really, who we are in Christ isn't about us--it's about Christ alone.
"The truth about who we are and how God sees us is founded in God's Word, not in our feelings."
That really stood out to me. I'm always struggling with my feelings. I have a hard time not letting them control me. It's difficult for me to trust God's Word when "I don't feel like it's true." Terrible as that sounds, it's the honest truth. Sometimes I have a really hard time believing and trusting God because my feelings are getting in the way.
But God's been teaching me that it's not about me. It's not about how I feel. It's not something that I obtained, gained, or changed. Who I am as a new creature in Christ is something that the Lord has done.
And when I'm doubting that? God's Word is TRUTH. Who am I to think that something I've done suddenly changes that truth, and now I'm an exception to it? That's not right. Just because I've messed up doesn't mean that God thinks of me any less. Sure, there are consequences to my sin. God is a loving Father who chastens His children.
But when I trusted Jesus as my Savior and was saved, I obtained a new identity in Christ. NOTHING can change that, and I repeat, NOTHING. It's a truth that I have to beat into my thick skull time and time again. Because guess what? I'm human. I fail. I mess up a LOT. But that doesn't change who we are in Christ or how God sees us.
"We have to understand what Christ's identity is. Because we are in Christ, God only sees Him when He looks at us."
Isn't that amazing? When God looks at us, He only sees Christ. And when we read the Bible and see Who Christ is... wow. We realize that our new identity is not tied to our old identity. Our old identity is dead. Gone completely. We are a completely new creature in Christ. Our old identity died with Jesus on the cross.
"Okay, so what about now?" you may be asking. "I get that I'm a new creature in Christ. That still doesn't always help when I'm struggling. What about when I'm doubting? What do I do then?"
"In order to grow well without toppling over, we need to have a strong root system, and we get that in Christ, not in our feelings or anything else. You will always be tossed to and fro if you can't take God at His Word and be rooted and grounded in what God has done for us."
In other words, just suck it up and trust God. And believe me, I get it. It's HARD. Sometimes we really don't want to, sometimes we're just plain scared to, and sometimes we just don't know how to trust God. But it really boils down to this: it's a choice. Trust is a choice. And today, right now in this moment, am I going to choose to trust God or am I going to choose to be battered about by my feelings? Am I going to battle my old identity, or am I going to embrace my new identity in Christ?
All quotations in this post were taken from my church notes journal. They are close to verbatim what my pastor said.