How many times have you felt like you didn’t know who you were?
Did you come up with any answers why you might have felt like that?
Of course, we expect adolescents to “find themselves” as they learn who they are and how to respond appropriately. Part of the duties of young people is to decide on a course for their lives. But what if you are an adult who still wrestles with these issues?
If you find yourself in this situation, chances are that you are laboring under false identities.
When we believe lies about ourselves, we eventually form false identities. Those lies are insidious. They are told to us by our parents (“you’ll never be as good as your brother”), our teachers (“you aren’t smart enough to go to college”), our acquaintances (“You’re not one of us”), even ourselves (“I am so ugly, no one will want to be my friend“). Anyone who holds any level of respect or power in our lives can feed lies into our souls which lead to false identities.
Hearing the lies over and over increases the chances they will become a false identity. They start feeling true.
Sometimes it’s actually done maliciously but usually the ugly lies come out of frustration or ignorance or just plain stupidity.
The lies we are told as children have a particular strength. That’s because children believe authority figures. Who else has the power to speak into their lives? And children have not yet developed the ability to filter truth from lies. They are unable to simply dismiss a lie the way adults can.
The lies we believe (especially as children) are too often incorporated and literally become false identities. The problem is, we can’t see them.
We only know we act differently than we want to, differently than we see ourselves. We wonder why we can’t overcome bad habits and attitudes.
This incorporation remains hidden until revealed by God. We can’t realize and receive our true identities without Him.
God doesn’t fill us with lies. And only He knows who were are created to be.
this is part 8 of a series on Identity
Part 1| Who Do You Think You Are?
Part 2| Did Your Parents Dictate Your Identity?
Part 3| Did Your Cultural or Religious Upbringing Dictate Your Identity?
Part 4|Is Your Identity Tied to Family History?
Part 5| Is Your True Identity Submerged by Your Important Life Roles?
Part 6| Is a Career Becoming Your Identity?
Part 7|Calling, Role, or Identity? Ways to Know the Difference
Part 8| Lies Cause the Strongest False Identities
Part 9| Speak the Truth to Your Identity
All illustrations courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net