Don't Sell Out Or Settle: Become the Man God Created You to Be | Episode #049

You have a vision for the man you want to be.

Honest. Strong. Respectable. Capable.

That vision isn’t random—it’s a shadow of the real you. The man God fashioned you to become.

But most men don’t live that out.

Why?

Because somewhere along the way, they started believing a lie:
 “I’m not enough.”
 “I’ll never become that man.”

And when a man believes that, he does one of two things—he hides… or he pretends.

He sells out… or he settles.

In this episode, Craig walks you through how to break that cycle and step into who God created you to be using a simple, powerful framework:

Confess. Declare. Demonstrate.

You’ll learn how to:

•  Identify the lies that are holding you back 
•  Replace them with truth rooted in who you are in Christ 
•  Take action—even when you feel fear 

Because real transformation doesn’t happen by trying harder…

It happens through repeated acts of faith.

If you’re ready to stop settling for the shadow and start living as the man God created you to be—this episode is for you.

🎧 Podcast Timestamps

00:00 – Don’t sell out or settle…

00:30 – he man you want to be isn’t random...

01:30 – That vision is a shadow of the real you

02:15 – Shame and lies

03:15 – Hiding vs Pretending

04:30 – Losing sight of God's love

06:00 – Solution

The 3-Step Framework

06:30 – Step 1: Confess Your Unbelief

09:00 – Step 2: Declare the Truth

10:30 – Step 3: Demonstrate Your Faith

Key Takeaway

12:30 – Transformation Principle

13:15 – Recap

14:00 – Encouragement

14:30 – Your next steps

Connect with Craig @CraigWalkerCaoching

Connect with Craig  @CraigWalkerCaoching
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey, don't sell out or settle for anything less than that vision that you have for yourself. That vision you have, it's it's a shadow on your soul. It isn't you, but it's an internal template that God placed within you so that you would know and follow to create the real you, to become all that he made you to be. Hey friend, welcome to the Trudia Masterpiece podcast. I'm Craig Walker, founder of Craig Walker Coaching, author of the book Shameless, The Life You Were Born to Love, and the creator of the Trudia Masterpiece course and podcast. Now, if you've ever wrestled with self-doubt or shame, that voice that whispers that you're just not enough, or maybe the fear that people are about to figure you out, you're in the right place. I feel your pain. For most of my life, I lived with fear and insecurity until one night in 2014 when I told God, Enough. Like Jacob, I wrestled with him until he gave me the insights that changed everything. Today, by his grace, I live with more confidence, love, and joy than I ever thought possible. I want to help you do the same. Each week I'll share biblical truths, practical tools, and real stories from people who are just like you, but they won their battle with shame and self-doubt, and they're living that life that God created them to love. So grab a cup of coffee, settle in. This is gonna be fun. Let's get started. Hey, don't sell out or settle for anything less than that vision that you have for yourself. Now, most men see themselves as honest, respectable, hardworking, and skilled at what they do. They have a vision for their life. And that's a noble vision. God placed that within you when he, let me use an old word, when he fashioned you. Fashion means to form, to shape, to design with purpose. You're not random. You were crafted with intent. Fashion, it's the idea that David had in mind when he wrote Psalm 139 that God, you made all the delicate inner parts of my body. You knit me together in my mother's womb. And he even said, Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex. He said, Your workmanship is marvelous. How well I know it. You know that vision you have, it's it's a shadow on your soul. It isn't you, but it's an internal template that God placed within you so that you would know and follow it to create the real you, to become all that he made you to be. Man sees that vision, falls in love with it, aspires to be that. But all too often what happens is shame creeps in and whispers the lie that you're not enough. You'll never be. You can't be. You can always tell when someone begins to believe the lie. He'll start to sell out the vision. He'll start settling for the shadow, you know. He'll start to hide his flaws, to pretend that he is that person. This is what happened to Adam and Eve. The moment that they ate the forbidden fruit, they died spiritually. Spiritually dead, they lost sight of God. They could see God physically, they could walk with him in the garden, but they just didn't know him spiritually as they did before sin entered into the picture. Now, for the first time, they saw themselves in a way they had never seen before. Don't miss this. They saw themselves in the absence of God's love. For the first time, they felt the need to cover up, to hide. They covered those parts of themselves that they feared others would reject. Or they put on display those parts that they believed others would love. And they began making excuses, blaming, rationalizing, avoiding. They felt the need to embellish, to brag, even to out and out lie. Hiding, it's a fear response based on the belief that I can't and I'll never be. Pretending it's also a fear response based on the belief that I can't and I'll never be. It just takes it one step further and says, Well, if I can't, or if I'll never be, at least I can look like I am, you know? And so the man begins to create this persona, this facade, this outward appearance, this mask. Hiding, selling out, pretending is settling for the shadow. We're all tempted to hide, we're all tempted to pretend. Hey, if this hits home, I can give you three steps to break this cycle. I can. I've done it. To become that kind of man that, well, that vision that God gave you when he made you. Here's the first step: confess your unbelief. Can I say if you've never put your trust in Jesus Christ, this is where you really need to start. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they died spiritually, they lost sight of God, and they began to see themselves the way they had never seen themselves before. And the only cure for that is you must be born again. That's why Jesus told this one man, he said, You must be born again, for that which is born of the flesh is flesh. In other words, it just had a physical birth, but that which is born of the spirit is spirit. This is a spiritual birth. This lets you see things like you've never seen. This lets you see yourself the way God sees you. The moment you trust Christ, you have this new birth experience, you're born spiritually, and your spirit then communes with God's spirit. And you see God, and now you have potential to see yourself through the lens of his love and you can see yourself the way he does. This is that initial answer to that not enough feeling. Feeling like you need to pretend, fake it, or give up. I want to pause here just for a second. If you've never trusted Christ, can I ask you to do that right now? Why not? Just right now. Why don't you just simply tell God what's on your heart? Let me give you this short prayer. You can just make this your own and offer it up to God. Something like, Father in heaven. I confess that that I've not believed you. I might believe in you, but I've never believed you. I've never trusted you. I live my life my own way. I've been afraid to trust you with my life today. I confess that's unbelief and that's sin. But I believe that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for my sins on the cross, shed his blood, was buried, and was resurrected to life. And I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. If you just prayed that prayer of faith, let me welcome you to God's family because you're born again. You have a living spirit within you that communes with God's spirit so that now you can see yourself in the light of his love. If you're a believer though, let me talk to you for a second. But you believe the lie, then confess that lie. That you you you know, you say you believe in God, but you're not trusting him. You've refused to believe that he's enough for you, that you're his work of art, you're his created design, you're you're unique, you're you're all God wants you to be, and by his grace, you can do everything he created you to do. Your prayer might sound something like, Father in heaven, I I've lost sight of your love. I believed a lie. I've let the enemy deceive me. I believe the lie that says I'm not enough, and I failed to trust you and your design for me and for your purposes for my life, and that your grace is enough for me to do everything you created me to do. By grace, God, I believe that I am enough to become all you wanted me to be. Transformation begins the moment you confess your unbelief. It doesn't complete itself, but it begins. You begin to change. Now you're ready to take the second step, and it's to declare the truth. Now that you've confessed unbelief, let's just tell God what is true. Let's believe it. On the heels of that confession, now it's time to admit that God, I like Paul said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It all it is is a change of mind. It's going from unbelief to belief. No, you don't look like you can, but you're going to believe it by faith that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I believe that I am a new creation. I am in Christ. Old things are passing away, new things are coming. I'm all that you say that I am. With the help of your Holy Spirit, I trust in Jesus to become all you created me to be. No more covering up, no more selling out, no more settling. By your grace through faith, I will be that person that you fashioned me to be and do all the good things that you had in mind when you made me. That's a declaration of truth. The third step is just to demonstrate your faith. Now it's time to prove that you really are a believer. You really do believe this. This is where the magic happens. You've got to lean into God through faith over your fear. Fear doesn't go away, but you can replace it with faith, you can override it. Yeah, you're still gonna feel fear. But now you're gonna trust God's word over your fear. Your actions will test the truth of your declaration. Did you really mean it? And you say, God, I'm putting my trust in you. How have you been settling out? How have you been settling? What actions come to your mind when you think of fears? Now, by faith, do those things and watch fear give way. You've been hiding, you've been compensating, you've been covering up, you've been avoiding. God, I'm I'm ready to lean into you. And pretending has been your struggle. How have you been pretending? Do you tend to embellish stories? Do you laugh at jokes you don't understand or don't think are funny or offensive? Is there a calling that you've denied? Action, it's the proof of your faith. James tells us faith without works is dead. This is where your faith comes alive. This is where the Christian life gets excited. Exciting. Repeated actions are faith. They're the catalyst for transformation. So if you've confessed your unbelief, declared the truth, and now if you begin to demonstrate your faith with actions, you will break free. That's how you stop selling out. That's how you stop settling for the shadow. That's how you become the man that God created you to be. I hope this helps you to live that life that God created you to love. If this resonates with you, let me invite you to take the next step. You can start with the Truly a Masterpiece workshop. I take what I just taught you today, go a lot deeper with it into that teaching. I help you to begin to actually put it into practice in life and to understand it better. If you're ready for more, I offer a 16-week coaching program where I'll walk you step by step, helping you build this solid foundation, developing this method for winning your battles, train your mindset and establish habits to sustain the transformation that you've experienced. If you're just looking for a place to belong, you don't uh don't forget about the Trudy a Masterpiece or the Masterpiece Men's Group, a group of men that just get together. It's kind of a no judgment zone where we we come together and we just build one another with sharing our wins and losses. Whatever it is, whatever your next step needs to be, I'd like to be here to help you take that next step. Reach out to me. All the links are inside the show notes. And let me just say, hey guys, thank you again for listening and for following along. May God help you to live that life that you were born to love.