True Identity: Remember Who You Are

Over the past few months, we had some things take place that caused a great bit of anxiety. It had gotten to the point that I was awake at night. 3 am. Worrying.

I can’t say that this has never been my life, but as for the most recent years, this is very unlike me. Your girl is going to get some sleep.

In the meantime, I ran across a podcast by Priscilla Shirer. In this podcast, she mentioned that if you read the first 2 chapters of Ephesians, it is a great reminder of who you are in a Christ.

That sounded like a great study, so I decided to do it. I read each verse, and from each verse, I wrote what each verse said in the form of an affirmation.

Let me tell you…that study was such a blessing to me. While doing this study and reading the affirmations, I realized that I had forgotten who I was!

As I was pondering this, the movie “The Lion King” came to mind. I remembered Rafiki (the cute little baboon) telling Simba “You don’t know who you are!” Then, I remembered Mufasa telling Simba, “ You have forgotten me.” Both statements were actually calling Simba up to embracing his true identity and his rightful place in the kingdom.

So, let’s recap this movie just a little bit. Hang in there with me.. this gets good!

At the beginning of the movie, Simba’s father poured everything that he could into him about being a lion, and more importantly, about being a King and ruler of a kingdom.

In the meantime, Simba’s enemy, his Uncle Scar, was plotting against him and Mufasa. He was setting Simba up to rob him of his inheritance, identity, and rightful place in the kingdom. Not only that, he plotted to kill Mufasa.

Not only was Scar successful in killing Mufasa, but he also convinced Simba that it was his fault, and that he should run away.

Does any of this sound familiar in your life?

The lies of the enemy can be so convincing that we believe them, and in turn we run away from our destiny because of guilt, shame, or just feeling that we are not worthy because of mistakes that we have made.

Simba had allowed guilt and shame to make him forget who he was. He began to wander to a foreign place that was never made for him. He began to accept other people’s ideas about who he was, how he should think and what he should be. He forgot the teachings of his father. He adopted the idea that he would be free from any responsibilities or obligations…especially the ones that involved him embracing who he was as ruler of the kingdom.

Then, one day Rafiki caught wind of the fact that Simba was still alive, and he goes to find him. After their conversation and a slight nudging from Rafiki, Simba looked deep at his reflection and remembered who he was. He saw a reflection of his father. He saw the king in him. He realized his true identity.

The world will try to dictate who we should be, what our ideas should be, and what our beliefs should be. But, by reading His word, we are reminded of who we truly are. And, once we grasp that, when we look in the mirror we will see a reflection of our Heavenly Father. We will see the Christ in us.

When Simba finally remembered who he was, when he made the decision to take his rightful authority back in the kingdom, when he decided not to shrink back based upon the lies that the enemy told him and he believed, he was able to stand in his authority given to him by his father and restore the kingdom back to its glorious state.

Today, I encourage you to remember who you are. Remind yourself of your identity in Christ daily.

Don’t run away from your God given inheritance, position, and authority.

Don’t allow guilt, shame, and fear to strip away your identity.

Fear and anxiety is not our portion, because we have a Father who holds our future in His hands, has a plan for our lives, and has every situation under control.

The Kingdom of God is waiting on YOU to stand in your rightful position and help bring it to a glorious state.

Remember who you are!