Our identity in Christ includes many aspects of our life, including our role as women warriors in spiritual warfare. Be sure to check out last week’s post, “Warriors in Genesis’ Eden,” because I discussed our identity as spiritual warriors in that post. But I want to discuss several other aspects of our identity in Christ here.
After I published last week’s post, I grieved over women who have become so crushed by Satan’s lies and sheer exhaustion that they misplace (forget?) their beloved identity in Christ. That identity has many sides, such as “bride of Christ” (2Cor.11:2), “beloved one” (1John4:11), “daughter of God through adoption” (Ephesians 1:5), “heir of eternal life” (Titus3:7), “equal partner with her husband” (1Peter3:7), “healed person” (Psalm41:3 and 34:18 and Song of Solomon16:12), “wise woman” (Ephesians3:10 and 1:17), and many more.
None of these titles are for unredeemed women (and men) who have not surrendered their hearts to the Lord. We did not earn these titles based upon our own righteousness, because our flesh is evil. In our sin nature, we do not deserve these titles. And when we act out in our carnal nature, we do not live up to those titles. All of these titles cost our beloved Lord Jesus, his life. He suffered horribly for us so we could receive these titles and the gifts they bestow. For example, we are not humanly wise. Human wisdom is foolish to God (1Cors.1:18-25.) But when we remain submitted to Jesus, and when we calmly listen to him, he whispers this wisdom to us (1Kings19:12b “After the fire, a still small voice,” and Proverbs2:6, “For the Lord gives wisdom.”) When we live in this humility, we live up to the title “wise woman.”
When we fail, we miss so much joy. Use me as an example of this mistake. When I give in to my fear (worries) or stress and strive and give in to human (unrighteous) anger, I do not hear God’s words of wisdom (James 1:20, “Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.”) Then I act like a foolish woman (Job2:10, “You speak as a foolish woman speaks.) I have set aside (misplaced) my title as “wise woman,” and instead I rush about foolishly. But the title is still God’s gift to me. He did not remove it; I did. God waits patiently for me to come back to him, calming my upset spirit, holding my unrighteous words back, and instead listening to God. Then when I let God speak his wisdom, via the Bible, the Holy Spirit’s whispering in my thoughts and the counsel of other wise women (and men) (Proverbs 11:14, 12:15, 15:22 and 19:20-21 to name just a few of the verses in Proverbs about counsel of others.) I put that title back on again.
All of God’s titles for me come with gifts (wisdom, peace, love, etc.) My flesh might entice my anger. The secular world might scare me. My unfinished chores might distract me. Sorrow might (temporarily) crush me. Sheer exhaustion might sideline me. All of these struggles can cause me to misplace or forget my identity in Christ. Not all of these things cause me to sin. Sometimes we must set aside our title as “joyful one,” and grieve deeply at sudden, unexpected loss. We are not wrong to sob at these times, because Jesus did so repeatedly. For example, at Lazarus’ tomb, “Jesus wept,” (Luke 19:41) and this weeping actually means gut wrenching sobs. And Jesus wept (John11:35) as he entered Jerusalem and saw the Israelites rejecting him. Even Hebrews 5:7-9 speaks of Jesus crying over us. We cannot shine in every title Jesus gave us until we enter heaven. This is not wrong.
But sometimes sin does hold us back from shining in those titles. It is when we sin that we need to be aware of misplacing our title or identity in Christ. We may forget we are the “healed One” (Isaiah 53:5, “By his stripes we are healed.”) We get stressed by broken bones or some other injury or sickness that takes too long to heal. Some will face a fatal diagnosis (for them or a loved one), and bitterness may creep in, pushing us to question God’s healing. “How can the Bible claim I am healed, when the doctor says I will soon die?” a grieving woman may ask. And that is a fair question to bring to God. Such a woman will need to wrestle in her faith over what feels like a terrible betrayal. That diagnosis can cause a woman to angrily tell God he lied about being the healer. But this woman can wrestle with her faith and keep coming back to God the way Naomi did. She lost her only two sons and her husband to death. Look at Ruth1:20 where she said, “Do not call me Naomi {which means pleasant}. Call me Mara {which means bitter}, because The Almighty has made my life very bitter.” Remember, Naomi never lost her faith. Even while claiming God dealt bitterly with her, Naomi kept speaking of God, even as soon as the next chapter.
The woman who suffers terribly can come to see God allowed his son to suffer fatally too, yet for our well being! When I think of life as a vapor (James4:14.) I realize everyone will die. Some die at an age I think is too young, like my beloved nephew, Drew, my brother Mark’s only son (in his early 20’s.) But God knew what he was doing, even though it crushed Mark and Christine (my sister-in-law). They still amaze me as a joyful couple, despite their terrible loss. Drew is in heaven, and Mark and Chris will see him again. Drew did not get earth’s healing but a perfect healing in heaven. That kind of loss requires a powerful faith and love for Jesus. This faith enabled Mark and Chris to be such beautiful, kind and gracious people. Many people are drawn to my brother and sister-in-law, because of their strong faith, kindness and joy. They are sweeter and kinder after this horrible loss, not bitter. They can wear the title, “healed one,” not just physically, but also emotionally, because they allowed Jesus to heal their broken hearts.
But surely they had to cry and grieve to get to the place they are now. Thus remaining strong in- and aware of- our identity in Christ takes time and work, when we wrestle in our faith and tell God how scared, or angry or sad we are. God listens and comforts us. Even when we are angry with God, he listens and still comforts us. So I say, staying strong in our identity in Christ takes hard work. We have to keep reading the Bible. We have to be honest with our thoughts and feelings. We have to let God forgive us when we fail. We have to be humble enough to admit when we fail to stand in our correct identity and then we can begin to reclaim that identity.
For example, for many years I did not stand in my identity as a “fearless woman of sound mind and power,” even though 2Tim1:7 says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but of power, love and a sound mind.” I finally realized I needed to memorize that verse and others related to my fear (worries, people pleasing, etc.) I recite those verses every day, because I have a tender personality that was seared while growing up in a rough home where I was often frightened. That young Debbie over developed her sense of fear. Now mature Debbie (me today) chooses to rebuke that deeply ingrained fear. God said his word is a sword (Ephs.6:16) so I use that sword via memorized Bible verses, to rebuke the false title of “Scared Debbie.” Through Christ, I claim the title of “bold Christian Debbie, prayer warrior,” and many other titles God offers me in my identity in Him. Does fear ever tempt me to worry? Of course. That fear was deeply embedded in my mind for a long time. Satan knows this is my weakness. But now I recognize when the fear hits me, and I speak against it. I don’t even have to speak out loud, but in my thoughts. And I can bring up those verses about fear, because I memorized them.
So what do we do when we see a sister in Christ, who has misplaced her identity in Christ? If we are close to her, we can speak these truths to her. We can encourage her. If she will listen, we can share specific Bible verses about her area of struggle. If she refuses to listen, perhaps she is in denial so she insists she is fine, yet she clearly suffers. Then we pray for her, and especially pray on the days when we fast and pray. We can speak of the victories God has brought in our life. She may see how we are growing and eventually want that victory for her own life too. But we cannot nag. Some people are slow to see the truth, and we have to be patient with them. We were probably stubborn in our earlier years (as I surely was.) Sometimes that sister is already dealing with some other sin or weakness, and she just cannot handle adding this other weakness to her emotional and spiritual work load. So we cannot act as the Holy Spirit in her life. But we always pray for her, and ask God to guide her when her heart is ready.
What if you are that sister who struggles this way? I pray some of these truths I have shared today will encourage you to dig into the Scriptures too. If you need to find a trained counselor, seek her (or him) out. But please find a strong Christian, because secular counselors do not understand the Lord. If you need to join a support group, do so. Sometimes a secular support group, on top of some good Christian fellowship is safe and even effective. For example the “anonymous” movement has groups for family members of people suffering from an addiction. So even if this group is not Christian, the members will have experience in dealing with an addicted loved one and they can encourage you. Then your Christian sisters can encourage you in the Bible too. Both groups can help you. In fact the 12 step program even has programs like “over eaters anon” and others for sins we gals might struggle with. And now many churches have “Celebrate Recovery” as a Christian 12 step group. Furthermore, many small groups at churches also offer fellowship and prayer support too. God can guide you to find some other Christians to encourage you in your Christian walk.
These are not the only ways in which we might misplace (forget) our identity in Christ. We have to be aware of the other sneaky ways our flesh or Satan can distract us from remembering who we are in Jesus. And your own journey to grow closer to the Lord will be unique, so you might use other ways to grow in that identity. I just wanted to share the ways God has been guiding me, and I pray this has encouraged you to be aware of Satan’s attacks. I pray this has strengthened you in the ways you can grow in that wonderful identity. Thanks for joining us! Have a blessed week.