The QuestSample

Who you increasingly believe God to be and, in His light, believe yourself to be is not only fundamental to intimacy, it is fundamental to victory. Reread Deuteronomy 33:29 and you’ll see the cords of victory and identity firmly tied together. Only because of the shield and sword of their God would they tread upon the backs of their enemies.

The similarities for New Testament believers in Ephesians 6:10-17 are gorgeous.

Tie them together here:

Every defeat of a child of God in battle can be accounted to one of two causes:

1) what we have not yet learned or 2) how we have been deceived. Our victories and defeats are driven by our beliefs. So is the depth of our intimacy with God.

Every time we choose sin, we are acting on a lie that usually goes like this: The world is a giver and God is a taker. The Bible is our sure footing for what is true about God, about ourselves, our pasts, our futures, about others, about our enemies, about this world and the next. To walk in truth as a child of God and be able to spot a well-spun lie buffed to a shine by the serpent, start quizzing your beliefs with this test: Who told you that? Pastors, shepherds, and teachers are gifts to us, and we’re meant to flourish under their instruction. However, they are dependable to the degree that what they say lines up with what God says. 

We obviously don’t learn our identities from pastors and teachers alone.

Our identities are also shaped by parents, siblings, peers, coaches, law enforcement, schools, experiences, environments, and fears. A sample interview to clarify the point:

Tell me a few things about yourself. Well, I’m stupid. I have the worst luck. I’m sloppy. I’m terrible with money. Homely. I’m unlovable. I don’t have any common sense. I’m a failure.

Who told you that? My mom.

Or was it your ex? Your classmates? Your illness? Your own self-talk?

To walk in truth with healthy bones, every “Who told you that?” needs tracing back to God in Scripture, and, if it’s incongruent, it needs tossing. Adam and Eve fell for a lie and lassoed humanity back to dust with them. Their defeat was swift and severe and all for the sake of a false identity. Deception is always a thief.