Building strength in your Identity in Christ.
“Yet even in the midst of all these things, we triumph over them all. For God has made us to be more than conquerors, and his demonstrated love is our glorious victory over everything” Romans 8:37
You were created to win. You were created to triumph. You were created to be strong and overcome anything you face.
All throughout God’s word there are verses, chapter and many stories about strength, courage, bravery, and resilience.
For us to be able to build mental strength, we need to build an identity of who we are in Christ. It’s the foundation that we build our life upon. Being a “strong” person is different to being strong. Its all about your mindset.
If you believe you are a “strong person”, you will most likely face anything in life with the mindset of triumph, even before you get through it.
When my son was younger, he was naturally shy and would find it hard when we would go to new places and see new people. I also noticed that he didn’t always like trying things that were hard. I started telling him that he was strong, and he could face things and overcome them. I did hard things with him and helped him “win” at different things to build confidence and an Identity of strength. As I continued to encourage him that he was strong, brave, courageous, bold and could face difficult things, his attitude started to change and he started trying new things and overcoming obstacles. He started to grow in his confidence. Because I taught him that he is “strong” in his Identity, he believes that is who he is. I saw a huge difference in how he faces life now, because of his mindset changed.
Its really easy for us to feel overcome and overwhelmed by situations sometimes and not know how to deal with them. Sometimes we feel weak and we make mistakes and then get discouraged and feel defeated.
That’s when we need to refocus our attention on our Identity, not our actions.
There is a long list of Identity Statements throughout God’s word that help us build a strong foundation of who we are, not what we do.
Here is a list of Identity Statements that can help you build a strong Identity.
I am God’s masterpiece – Ephesians 2:10
I am Loved – 1 John 4:19
I am Secure – 2 Corinthians 1:22
I am valuable – 1 Corinthians 6:20
I am more than a conqueror through Christ – Romans 8:37
I am forgiven – Acts 13:39
When we focus our attention on who we are in Christ, it helps us to build a foundation that we can build our life upon.
Have you ever faced anything difficult before and you pushed through it and came out the other side feeling stronger and wiser? Did you feel like it built more strength in you? Did it help you build your character? Did it give you confidence that you can face other challenges and win?
Just like I shared the story of teaching my son about building an Identity of strength, when we go through life, we are faced with things that we didn’t expect or that we don’t like. Most of us like things to be easy and comfortable and sometimes avoid doing things that are hard.
If you are going to reach your full potential and live a full, purposeful life, you need challenges to help you build your Identity and your mindset.
How to we build an Identity of being a strong woman or man?
By meditating on our Identity in Christ and what he says about us.
By building a mindset of your strength comes from God.
By facing difficulties as an opportunity to grow in your faith.
Have you ever watched a video of a house being built? The builders usually start by leveling out the ground, and putting down a foundation of concrete. The foundation is so important to the rest of the house. If you don’t get the foundation right, the house will eventually fall apart. Even though it’s a small part of building a house, it is also the most important. Its like that in our lives. We need to make sure that our foundation is built upon our Identity in Christ. When we do this, it provides a strong and secure foundation for us to build our entire lives upon.
How can you start to build a strong foundation of your Identity in Christ?
Find 5 Identity in Christ Statements that resonate with you, and write them down and put them on your bathroom mirror. When you are getting ready in the morning, meditate on them, think about them. Before you go to bed at night, read over the list again and think about them.
This will help you start to build a strong Identity in Christ, based on who you are in him.
Wherever you are on your journey to build mental strength and building a strong Identity in Christ, I want to encourage you that as you change your mindsets to what God says about you, you will notice a difference in the way you start to face challenges! When you make mistakes or fail at something, get back up and focus your attention on your Identity in Christ and remind yourself that you are a strong person, you are victorious, you are an overcomer, and that you are triumphant in Christ.
“But those who HOPE in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faith.” Isaiah 40:31