The New Testament has a great deal to say about who we are in Christ. As a result there are many declarations among Christian writers and teachers outlining our identity.  In our own ministry we encourage those to whom we are ministering to read a two-page declaration out loud each day that states who we are in Christ. We ask them to do that for sixty days.

We say sixty days because recent brain research has demonstrated that it takes about that long for new neural pathways to form in our brains that contain the thoughts we have been repeating and reinforcing with our verbal declarations.  There are other strategies to strengthen the process of getting God’s word into our mind as part of the renewal process Paul calls us to in Romans 12:2. Writing out the declaration, using different colors to do so, using the non-dominant hand, and listening to a recording of the declarations in your own voice are examples.

What we believe about ourselves is a reliable indicator of whether we will succeed or fail in life – not just in careers but also in relationships, health, and even spiritual matters. Our self-image or our identity sets us up for confidence or insecurity.  It determines whether we face new relationships with an expectation of acceptance or rejection.  It determines whether we face the future with hope or fear.  It determines whether we feel strong or woefully vulnerable. We could go on, but you know the concept.

Ultimately our identity or self-image boils down to whether we think we are reasonably capable, significant, valuable, and lovable or whether we believe that we are defective, incapable, insignificant, and unlovable.

Scripture tells us over and over that in Christ we are loved, we are very significant, we are highly capable, and that we matter so much that Jesus died for us while we were still sinners.  We are new creations, kings and priests, more than conquerors, sons and daughter of the Most High, God’s craftsmanship made for a divine purpose, totally forgiven, holy, and totally accepted by God.

When most believers read the things that God says about them, they discount the message and think that those things might be true for others but not for them.  Even after receiving salvation and the Holy Spirit, they continue to walk in their old identity – the old man -which we are commanded to put away. That image is typically negative. Sometimes the church has even wrapped a garment of acceptability around that negative self-image by calling it humility.

However, to discount or dilute the word of God on any topic is simply unbelief and unbelief invites the enemy and opens the door for him. We must always give God’s word more authority than our emotions, what our parents said, or what we have come to believe through past experiences. If we continue to walk in the shadow of a broken heart and a broken identity, we will never have faith that every one of God’s great promises are truly for us, and we will never face the enemy with confidence.

Whenever we minister deliverance, the standard thoughts pouring through the person’s mind to whom we are ministering are thoughts from the enemy such as:

• You belong to me and you will never be free.
• These people have no power over me.
• You will be alone and helpless without me.
• I don’t have to leave, I own you.
• And so forth.

His goal is to make God’s people feel helpless, weak and inadequate so that they back down from the confrontation. God has given us amazing promises.  He has told us that we have power and authority over the enemy.  We can resist the devil and he will flee from us.  We can join Jesus in destroying the works of the devil and we can do the works that Jesus did and even greater things by faith.  Believing that is the issue.

What I have discovered is that if we do not believe who we are, we will not believe what God is willing to do through us. In the face of Satan’s boasting and lies, we will wilt.  Faith is not just about what we believe about God, but about who we are in Christ as well. We have authority to cast out the enemy because of who we are in Christ.  We have strength to stand against his schemes because of who we are in Jesus.

As we disciple people, we should spend a great deal of time helping them know and believe what their position is in Jesus, because it is that position that gives them access to the throne room of God and the power and resources of heaven. Know one will truly know what their authority is in Christ until they know what their identity is in Christ as well. We should make a habit of not only declaring who God is on a daily basis, but also who we are in Christ on a daily basis as well.  When both of those things are settled in our hearts and minds, Satan has no chance.