Introspection and Identity
Thank you, Tim Koller, for a very unnerving classroom exercise this week. Tim had us spend 15 minutes in class, writing out a list of every thought/belief that motivates you from the moment you get out of bed. So, we wrote what our inner voice tells us, and I filled a page with fragmented sentences and arrows diagraming the connections. I was amazed at how many harmful lies were being communicated to me by me. They were subtle like whispers of a conversation that you barely overhear. I knew the truth to confront each of these lies, but they didn’t come forward for confrontation. They just whispered from the shadows. I think you know what I mean. You hear them yourself — dark whispers in your mind.
Our identity is the core driver for habit formation. This brief moment of introspection made me question the source of my identity. To whom am I listening? Of course, as a Christian, I believe that my identity is found in Christ. God established my identity before the foundation of the world, and I will discover that identity when I seek Him. I find acceptance, security, and significance when I behold Him and listen to what He says about me.
If our behaviors flow from what we believe about ourselves and how we identify, then it seems that the church needs to preach to us about identity. We need to preach to ourselves about identity in Christ. Culture is already preaching to us. Those dark thoughts and ideas are already preaching to us. To whom will I listen? Who has my ear? Who do I believe? The answer is in what comes out of my life. I can’t argue with the fruit of my identity. For example, if I am fearful and anxious, then what do I believe about who I am? Do I believe that I am a victim? Or, that God is angry at me, so he is going to punish me? Do I believe that God is not good and can not be trusted? These are things that would never come out of our mouths, but we hear them in our heads. We say an AMEN to these lies and believe them to be true.
So, preach. Preach to yourself the truth that God declares is your true identity in Him. Child of God. Called by God. Loved by God. Protected by God. He says far more about me than this, and I find it when I listen to Him through the Word of God with the Spirit of God.