Who Am I?نموونە

WHEN SUCCESS & FAILURE DETERMINE WORTH

Do you ever fear failure? Are you driven by the need to succeed?

How much do these two questions impact how you see yourself and live your life?

I used to be incredibly insecure about my inability to spell. I was an undiagnosed dyslexic growing up, so when I continued to get low scores on my spelling test, it was an easy step to define my value based on my inability to spell. It resulted in me avoiding any situation that required me to spell publicly. I remember struggling with huge amounts of anxiety if asked to write on a whiteboard in front of my schoolmates or later work colleagues.

• What if I spelt something wrong?
• What if I made a fool of myself?
• What if people laughed?
• What would they think of me?

My internal answer was terrifying. It meant I was stupid, a fool, and would feel deep shame. It meant people were thinking the worst of me. I allowed failure to determine my worth. Hence, I did everything possible to craft my life around hiding my weakness. The same can be said for success. If success determines your worth, you will become a slave to the scorecard. Giving both performance and failure the power to determine your value means you will live a life filled with anxiety and fear, a life crafted around performance or avoidance living. A life of emotional rollercoaster living.

The degree to which you fear failure is the degree to which you live a life avoiding potential failure experiences. The degree to which success determines your value is the degree to which you allow success to be your master. This is not living in the freedom that Christ desires for us.

John 8:32 tells us that the "truth" will set us free. So here are three truths to hold onto for today.

1. God does not want us to live in fear. 2 Timothy 1:7 clearly shows that God has not given us a spirit of fear. Therefore, if you live in fear, know this is not God's desire for you. There is a better way.
2. According to Philippians 4:6, God does not want us to be anxious about anything. Therefore, if you are struggling with anxiety, he calls you to bring it to him instead. He has a better way for you to live. This is God's desire for you because he cares about you.
3. In Ephesians 6:11, God tells us to put on the armour of God so we can stand against the schemes and strategies of the enemy. One of the enemy's biggest strategies is to get you to believe the lie 'that performance and failure determine your worth'. He knows that if he can get you to believe this lie, then you will either live a life driven by performance and anxiety or a life driven by avoidance because of fear.

Therefore, the first step to discovering who you are is to unhook yourself from the lie of what you think determines your value and worth. To unhook yourself from the author of fear who tries to remind you of every failure you have made. To unhook yourself from the slave driver who cracks the whip, demanding more and more from you.

Only the truth can set us free from the power of lies. The truth is a person—his name is Jesus.