Truth Identity & Self Esteem | Allen & Stacy Jo

What you believe about yourself shapes everything — your relationships, your decisions, your faith, and your freedom. In this between-season special, Allen and Stacy Jo Thorne dive deep into what they call truth identity: seeing yourself as God sees you through Jesus Christ — and actually believing it.

Pulled from their ministry, Reviving Recovery Unbound, this episode is a direct, grace-filled conversation about the lies that quietly shape our identity — and the truth that sets us free. From people-pleasing and perfectionism to control and comparison, Allen and Stacy Jo name the "shiny lies" the world offers in place of the stable identity that can only be found in Christ.

You'll walk away with:
  •  Clarity on why knowing scripture isn't the same as receiving God's truth in your heart
  •  Understanding of how the Holy Spirit works at the root of our struggles, not just the behavior
  •  A 5-step practical framework for identifying and releasing lie-based beliefs
  •  Biblical declarations to speak over yourself and renew your mind

This is not about shallow self-help or positive thinking. This is about the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, grounded in God's Word, in your everyday life.

"You were created on purpose, for God's purpose. Walk in truth, walk in freedom, walk in and with Christ."

Key scriptures: Genesis 1:27, Romans 8:1, 2 Timothy 1:7, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Matthew 28:18

Connect with the show: www.faithfullyinvested.com 

Reviving Recovery: Unbound is now online! We worship, we learn, we break out into gender specific groups and we journal with each other and with the Holy Spirit. If your heart is stirring listening to this, pay attention Healing begins here. Click the link below to join us at Reviving Recovery:Unbound.

www.revivingrecovery.com

See you in the room!

Come check out the Association of Christian Business Women!  We'd love for you to join this growing community of Kingdom-minded women.  Visit our website at www.acbw.org

Association of Christian Business Women
Empowering women in business through faith, community, and leadership.

Reviving Recovery: Unbound
Holy Spirit-led recovery for lasting freedom, healing, and biblical transformation through Christ.

Association of Christian Business Women
Empowering women in business through faith, community, and leadership.

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Transcript

Allen 0:00

Are you ready to build a life, business, and legacy that truly lasts? Welcome to Faithfully Invested with Alan and Stacey Joe Thorne, where faith meets real talk, biblical wisdom meets everyday life, and leadership meets laughter.

Stacy Jo 0:15

Together we will uncover God's blueprint for leadership, marriage, and mission, helping faith-driven leaders invest in what matters most.

Allen 0:23

Each episode we explore biblical wisdom, have real conversations, and of course, have some fun along the way. Because let's be real, walking in faith is an adventure.

Stacy Jo 0:34

It sure is to pull up a seat, grab your coffee or your sweet tea, and join us as we steward our callings with intention. Because when we invest in his kingdom, he brings the increase.

Allen 0:52

Hey, welcome back to Faithfully Invested. We're grateful that you're here with us today. I'm Alan.

Stacy Jo 0:57

And I'm Stacey Jell.

Allen 0:59

And this episode comes from our ministry, Reviving Recovery Unbound, and it's concerning what we call the truth identity. This is one of the topics that touches everybody. We know what it feels like to wonder whether we're good enough. In just about any scenario imaginable, we we constantly wonder or we doubt our worth before God, family, friends, and coworkers, and that could potentially lead us to missing a calling to be who God has created us to be. And part of the gift that the Lord has given us is that we gotta trust Jesus to help us overcome past challenges so that we can see that he's telling us that we do have what it takes. He sees us and he knows our challenges. He knows our challenges firsthand. Jesus is the only one who can show us the truth that leads to freedom that we're searching for. Am I good enough? We wonder. Am I good enough in Christ? Absolutely. But the real question is, do you believe it?

Stacy Jo 2:12

Right. And that question of whether we are see ourselves as good enough does not always show up as insecurity. Sometimes it looks like overworking or controlling comparison or or chasing approval or people pleasing or whatever it takes for us to prove to others or God that we've got what it takes to fit in or get it done. Alternatively, though, if we fall short of having what it takes, then isolation, maybe substance abuse can cover over those lies and tell us that we'll never get it together. Believe it when I say that a person can look confident on the outside and still be quietly measuring their worth by how well life is going. And that is why this matters. If our identity is built on anything unstable, our faith, our peace, our security, and our identity will be unstable as well.

Allen 3:11

Absolutely. And I've been there and I recall times when I when I needed success to feel valuable. Now, how about you?

Stacy Jo 3:20

Yes. Sometimes I still deal with feeling like I need success to feel valuable.

Allen 3:25

Absolutely. The enemy's slick, and we'll we'll get to that. But you know, I needed success to feel valuable, and when I fell short, that failure crushed me. I needed approval to feel secure, or criticism controlled me. But just the same, if if I need control to feel safe, then surrender is a threat. And we gotta surrender. The issue is not just simply low self-esteem. The deeper issue is most often a lie-based belief skewing our identity from the inside out.

Stacy Jo 4:02

Right. And the world tells us to find ourselves in achievement, appearance, money, relationships, attention, comfort, control.

Allen 4:15

Control.

Stacy Jo 4:16

And those things may promise value, but they cannot provide a stable identity. Alan in the book that the Holy Spirit wrote through him, calls these things shiny lies. And they may feel all right for a moment, but they end up taking over God's required first place. So these fillers distract us from the internal healing that we all need, but there is no healing in them. Their satisfaction is temporary, temporary at best.

Allen 4:47

Zero healing. Yeah. So today, you know, if if you're just tuning in, if you don't know, then then we're gonna be direct. We we are fairly direct because we we speak from experience. The goal is not to help people think more highly of themselves in a shallow way. The goal is to help see ourselves as God sees us through his son Jesus Christ. And as we get started here, friends, this is what we found to be true through our experience. Real freedom begins when we stop agreeing. When we stop agreeing with the lies and releasing the lies that bind us and start receiving truth from the capital T truth, who is Jesus Christ.

Stacy Jo 5:35

Yeah. And the truth begins back in Genesis 127. So God created mankind in his image. That's where our our identity starts, not with our detrimental experiential wounds or failures, and certainly not with what people have spoken over us or at us. Nor is our identity found in with what we have done or what's been done to us. Did you know that before Shame entered the story, God created mankind in his image? As I just said, Genesis 127. That means that human worth was established by God before it was ever attacked by sin, fear, pride, rejection, comparison. You have been created on purpose for his purpose.

Allen 6:28

And that changes the whole conversation because God is the one who created us. And as God is the one who created us, then God is the one who defines us. We don't discover our identity through asking culture who we are. We discover our identity by coming back to the one who knit us together in our mother's womb. And that is why we say often in Unbound to know who we are. As we are discovering who we are, our identity, we must know whose we are.

Stacy Jo 7:02

I love that so much. That's so important to know whose we are. And it's simple, but it's not small. As I belong to Jesus Christ, then my identity is not up for grabs every time someone rejects or criticizes me or overlooks me. Yes, of course, those things may hurt, but they do not get to name me.

Allen 7:23

Definitely not. Before you start thinking that we're talking about rainbows and puppy dogs, please understand rainbows and puppy dogs. Who doesn't like rainbows and puppy dogs? But that's not what we're saying here. This isn't about comfort. What it is about is authority. It's about authority, and Jesus speaks of this in Matthew chapter 28, verse 18, where he tells his believing disciples in the first century, all authority has been given to me on heaven, in heaven, and on earth. It's been given to me. And I would ask you this: if if all authority belongs to Jesus, then the lies of the enemy, they have no authority over a Christ-following believer. So the lie might be loud, it might be distracting, and it is, and it might be emotionally convincing. It might seem debilitating, but it's still a lie. That's not who you are. That's not who we are. It's not who you are. Lovey dovey.

Stacy Jo 8:29

It's not who you are either, babe.

Allen 8:31

Truth. Truth isn't determined by how long we've been tangled up in the lie. Truth is determined by our Creator, Father God. What he says about us is the most true thing about us.

Stacy Jo 8:45

Preach, babe. Preach because that true statement matters because some of us have lived with certain lies for so long that we stopped questioning and just got cozy with them. Yeah. You know, like I'm just fearfully insecure. This is just who I am. No, you are not just a sheep to be slaughtered. You are a son or daughter of the one true and living God. Likewise, Jesus doesn't invite us to manage a false identity. He and the Holy Spirit are not interested in shining up the old you. He they invite us to be made new.

Allen 9:24

Invite us to be made new. That's that's what the apostle Paul lived, and that's what he declared over his church in Corinth when he said, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold. And that the the Greek term for behold, I'm not sure what that term is, but it means wake up, pay attention, look at this. Behold, the new is come. And that is the heart of this episode. And that's the heart of our ministry, reviving recovery unbound. Our identity is not found in trying harder. Nowhere in God's word does it ever say, hey, just try harder. Just be better people. Hey, hey, just be nice. Yeah. Doesn't say that. It says be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Our identity is found in Christ alone. And transformation happens as the Holy Spirit renews our hearts and minds by his truth. Yes, yes. So that's Jesus told his first century disciples, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. But here we are in the twenty-first century. And here in the twenty-first century, he says the same thing to us. The word wasn't written to us, but it was written for us.

Stacy Jo 10:57

Right.

Allen 10:58

So but all that to say that here in the twenty-first century, we're we're not facing any new challenges. There's Solomon wrote that in Ecclesiastes, there's nothing new under the sun. Peter writes that in one of in one of his letters that there you're not facing anything that someone hasn't faced before. The human condition is the same as it ever was. We see it as we as we're living, and it's a little seems a little amplified these days. The nonsense is at a higher level, it seems to be. But it's still the same. For example, many people believe in Jesus, but they still live from old agreements. They still agree with the old the old man. They say that they love God, but they still agree and they they're still bound to the shame. They they read scripture, but they still decide from fear. The words are still on the page. They haven't transformed, they haven't transferred from the page to the the tablets of our heart. People say they want freedom, but they keep returning to control because control feels safer than trust. That landed somewhere. Hopefully so. And if this is hitting you, I would say good. This is something that we need to investigate with him. It's not about us figuring it out, it's about us trusting the Holy Spirit to figure it out. And we gotta be honest here. Our challenge isn't always that we we don't know the truth. Sometimes is that we haven't yet released the lie to the one who came to release to to bear that burden. We got to release the lies to the one who came to bear the burden. That's obviously, I hope obviously, Jesus.

Stacy Jo 12:40

Right. And that's a really important distinction. A person can know scripture and still live from a wounded belief. They may say that God loves them, but inside they believe they're unwanted. They may say they're forgiven, but live like they're condemned. They may say that they think God is trustworthy, but they hold fast to the lie that life around them depends on them holding it all together. Enter the Holy Spirit.

Allen 13:09

Enter the Holy Spirit.

Stacy Jo 13:11

Because he is the spirit of truth who came to bring me, who came to bring you, who came to bring every one of us all the truth. And he wants to deal with the root, not just the behavior, like Alan said. You know, when you decide to yield to his perspective and you let him guide you, he will reveal the lie or the lies that are the source and the origin of your challenge.

Allen 13:37

Yeah, I think the uh the great theologian uh from the uh 1970s, Arthur Fonsarelli said it best when he said, Exact mundo.

Stacy Jo 13:51

Yeah, every time you say the great theologian, I know it's gonna be something like that.

Allen 13:56

Every time I say that, I know she's gonna shake her head. She's like Arthur Fonzarelli was not a theologian. No, but it's funny. It's it's it's a joke. I love what you said there, babe. Behavior, we have to understand that behavior is only the fruit while our our belief is the root of our challenges. Yeah. If I keep reacting from fear, control, anger, shame, and withdrawal, the question becomes the question should be why? Not just why do I react this way, but what am I believing right now as I react this way? Am I believing that God is with me, or am I believing that I am all alone? Am I believing that I am redeemed, or am I believing that I've gone too far and I'm disqualified? Am I believing that I'm loved more loved than I could ever imagine? Or am I believing that I have to earn righteousness before God? News flash, truth believers, our salvation is only by grace through faith. Anything else is rubbish and rags. Likewise, the Holy Spirit's transformation of us from the inside out is his work, not ours. All we're called to do is believe in the one in whom the Father sent and follow him.

Stacy Jo 15:17

Right. And then there's the issue of the throne. And in Unbound, we talk about control as a throne. Yeah. Many of us want Jesus to save us, to bless us, heal us, Lord, guide us. But we still want to remain seated in control.

Allen 15:32

Right.

Stacy Jo 15:33

And the challenge here is that the throne was never ours. Never ours. The Holy Spirit does not come to assist our self-rule. He comes to lead us through a life surrendered to him. And the key word here is say it, Alan.

Allen 15:51

Yield. Right. Yield.

Stacy Jo 15:54

Yield.

Allen 15:55

That's it. And we are preaching to ourselves because we gotta get out of the way. And that's that's where pride and fear both get exposed. Pride says, I can handle this without God. And fear says, I cannot trust God with this. Different language, same result. We still hold on to that control. Not a good place to be. But how many of y'all know that that surrender is not weakness? There's a paradigm shift. Surrender is not weakness. We'll dig into that another time. Uh we've digged dug into it previously, so yeah. But we will uh surrender is not weakness, but instead an agreement. Surrender is an agreement with the reality that God is in control. Jesus is Lord, and I'm not. You're not, and not even you, lovey.

Stacy Jo 16:52

I'm not.

Allen 16:52

You're not.

Stacy Jo 16:53

And I would say another challenge is what we referred to earlier as the shiny lies. And these are the things the world holds up and says, This right here, this will make you more valuable.

Allen 17:05

Yeah, it's the case.

Stacy Jo 17:06

Here's success, here's money, here's appearance, here's status, relationships, recognition.

Allen 17:15

Darling, approval look marvelous.

Stacy Jo 17:19

Well, thank you, darling, but I was not dangling a carrot for that.

Allen 17:23

But that's just an example, right? Right.

Stacy Jo 17:25

But those things, those things become dangerous when they move from being blessings, which that was a blessing, babe, that you just said that to me. Or responsibilities, or was it a responsibility? I don't know. Into when it when it becomes dangerous when they move from being blessings or responsibilities into becoming identity sources. And when something has to tell me who I am, it takes a seat that belongs to God.

Allen 17:51

Absolutely. And to that, I would issue a blamo.

Stacy Jo 17:55

I got a blamo.

Allen 17:56

Blamo, lady. This is why self-esteem swings between insecurity and pride. Insecurity says that I am I'm less than, and pride says, I will prove you that I am more than enough. Both are very detrimental. Both are centered on self. Both are unstable to say the least. And biblical truth identity helps us recentered on who we were created to be. A couple of things that a biblical truth identity never involves is self-hatred and self-worship. It's about what Paul calls uh sober-mindedness or sober judgment. We see this in Romans 12, 3, where he declares, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sound or sober judgment according to the measure of faith that God has given to each of us.

Stacy Jo 18:52

Yes, and as we decide to live from and in his truth, his word provides a healthy place from which to learn, not inflated or defeated, not performing or pretentious, but just truthful. And friends, it all starts with the recognition that we are not in control and we are sinners who are in need of a savior. Yes. Jesus is our first decision. From there, the Holy Spirit shows us how the words of God's truth come off the page and land on our hearts. This defines authentic belief that his word is truth, the capital T truth. And if the words just remain on the pages, then they are just knowledge, and knowledge doesn't transform anything. But when we let the the Holy Spirit show us through the word, we get to experience it and begin to shift perspective toward truth over lies. And I'll give you an example of that. I am covered by His grace, I'm redeemed by Christ, I'm transformed by the Holy Spirit, I am not defined by failure, but I stand in truth with Christ and I am a new creation.

Allen 20:08

Yes, and all this, everything that you just said here is biblical truth. But do you believe it?

Stacy Jo 20:18

I do.

Allen 20:19

If he does. If he does today. Yeah.

Stacy Jo 20:23

I believe it today. But the enemy will come against me and make me doubt it on other days. Right. And that's when I have to stand my authority and I have to remind him who God says I am. That's it. And I have to remind myself who God says I am.

Allen 20:42

That's right. Who do you say I am? Sometimes you know, life's tough.

Stacy Jo 20:46

Yeah.

Allen 20:47

And anyway, prayer.

Stacy Jo 20:50

Yeah.

Allen 20:50

The stillness. That's the stillness with him and commitment and consistency with that with that quiet time so that we believe, so that we might understand.

Stacy Jo 21:02

Yeah. I mean, so really it comes down to the question word or world?

Allen 21:07

Yeah.

Stacy Jo 21:08

And the solution begins with one clear question. You know, what defines that truth for us? Is it the world or is it the word? The world says you are what happened to you. The word says you are created in the image of God. The world says you are your failure. You're the sum of your failure. The word says there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The world says, protect yourself with fear and control.

Allen 21:38

The wall. Stay behind the wall.

Stacy Jo 21:40

Right. And the word says, God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and sound mind. And that has to be one of my absolute favorite verses.

Allen 21:50

And that's where it's at. Second Timothy one, seven is Paul's truth. And that is our I that's the identity angle. Fear is not God's gift. There's no fear in love because God is love. He is perfect love. And Jesus Christ's perfect love casts out and drives out all fear. That's what the word says. Conviction may come from God. Condemnation does not come from God. There's no condemnation. You just said that. Romans 8. There's no condemnation for those found in Christ Jesus our Lord. Correction may come from God. Wisdom definitely comes from God. But tormenting fear, and like I said, condemnation never come from God. That's right. So if you're allowing fear to lead your decisions, understand this, it also binds you from full surrender. So many people are treating fear as wisdom, and we gotta stop treating fear like wisdom.

Stacy Jo 22:56

Amen.

Allen 22:57

And we gotta start taking it to God's truth word first instead of a last resort. Truth rises, truth reveals, truth received is truth that heals.

Stacy Jo 23:13

Yes. Don't get us wrong. I mean, we get it. The liar can be slick on how he creeps in and he skews our perspective to find fear is responsible. You know, lies may coerce us by saying don't trust, don't forgive, don't open up, don't try again. Don't believe for that healing. Make sure you stay guarded. Make sure you stay in control. But aren't we longing for freedom? Aren't we longing for freedom? And of course we are, because friends, fear never produces freedom. It only binds us by the lies and produces what seems like better excuses. We can make excuses or we can make a difference. Truth bound faith leads us to the difference that we were created to make. And also truth-reliant faith doesn't ignore pain or pretend life is easy. Faith simply refuses to give fear the final word.

Allen 24:10

Absolutely. This seems cliche to us because we've been in recovery for a while and we've we've we've walked with the Lord for a while. So I somewhat sometimes I take it for granted that everybody has heard that fear is false evidence appearing real. But not everybody has heard that, not everybody understands that. But please check it out. Fear is false evidence appearing real. It's lies, and that's what we're saying here. Lies. Faith is the antithesis of fear. Faith's light shines through the darkness, and the darkness does not ever, never overcomes it. And that light is Jesus Christ. And his light is the life of all mankind, and his life is the light for all mankind, and his light shines in the darkness, and the darkness never ever overcomes it. Right. Gospel of John 1 5. The gospel gives us a reason that we can do that. Paul writes in Second Corinthians 5 21 that God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. And that's that's not a small adjustment in our self-image. You're not going to get that in the world. It's not an adjustment. It's not something that comes from here, it's something that's surrendered here. That's a new identity found in Christ Jesus our Lord alone. We're not trying, we cannot earn righteousness by performing better. It's not about us trying to earn a place closer to God by our deeds. What it is about is it's about us learning. Jesus says in Matthew 11, take my yoke upon you and learn from me. We are learning to live and walk by faith in and for Jesus' work on the cross. We're saying that we believe that his work on the cross, it counted for me. It paid it all. But more than that, we live by faith that the tomb has been empty for over 2,000 years. And just as Jesus rose again, so are we made new by faith, and that the tomb is empty. And I love what this is a staple for Joby Martin and the Church of 1122, just north of us in Jacksonville. If the tomb is empty, anything is possible.

Stacy Jo 26:50

That's right. And that also means that transformation is not religious self-improvement.

Allen 26:58

Definitely not.

Stacy Jo 26:59

Jesus didn't come, like I said earlier, Jesus didn't come to polish the old identity. The old identity was crucified with him. Likewise, by our confession of faith that he is who he says he is, you are also made new. He came to make us new, and truth changes everything. And then the sanctification process is the Holy Spirit forming the the mind, heart, and life of Christ in us. He renews our minds, he heals our hearts, he confronts our false arguments, he confronts our false agreements and teaches us to walk in truth. And when we're willing to, there's that word again, yield to him and allow him to do so. Wow, what a difference that will make.

Allen 27:48

That's it. That's that's it right there. Yield. You know, this is where surrender is practical. We gotta release the yuck. The yuck.

Stacy Jo 28:00

Yeah, because it binds us up.

Allen 28:01

Yeah. We gotta release the yuck that binds us, and we gotta release the throne of control to the Holy Spirit. We gotta release the throne of control to the Holy Spirit so that he might lead us to the challenges that that are some people have problems, but we have challenges. We face challenges because we're overcomers. Challenges are made, we we are made to overcome challenges. So the Holy Spirit will will reveal the challenge, the source and the origin of the challenge. I admay it's uh in the source of the origin of the challenge, as we follow the Holy Spirit, as we yield to him, is a memory that we we may have denied, and that's where the the binding lie resides. It's it's back there somewhere. Uh and in that in that memory, we must welcome, as the Spirit reveals the lie, we must welcome the Savior Christ, Jesus, into the source and the origin memory. Then we must release the lie to him who meets us in the pain. He Jesus always will meet us in the pain. We release the yuck so that we might receive the truth from the capital T truth. That's what the word says. He says, the word who became flesh and dwelt amongst us, Jesus, he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and nobody comes to the Father but by me. So we gotta r release that yuck, release the lies to the truth so that we might receive truth from the truth. And in these encounters, this is what we're we're looking at. We've been through challenging experiences. So what do we need? We need a new experience. We need an encounter with the Creator, we need the an encounter with the difference maker. He's the difference maker. And as we get in as we uh experience these encounters, we experience opportunities for him to fill us with his healing truth. And then blamo. That's just a peaceful blamo. That's that's the a transformative moment. His truth empowers the simple surrender to fear, pride, and shame that's kept us isolated for so long. And as we release the lies and receive truth, he clears out space for us to receive what the Creator Father has for us power, love, and a sound mind. And these Greek terms that Paul writes us in 2 Timothy 1.7, we mentioned earlier in this episode, the Greek terms for power, love, and a sound mind are dunymus, agape, and sofroneo. And these Greek terms designate that these are the highest level of power. Highest level of love and highest level of sanity, sound mindedness, because these are this is what the Lord has for us. This is what our Creator has for us. And God is a good father who has the best for his children, and that is what he has for us love, power, and a sound mind.

Stacy Jo 31:28

For sure. And I think it's important to say that surrender cannot even be passive. It's not doing nothing. I mean, surrender is actively yielding to the leadership of Jesus. And when Jesus said follow me, he wasn't inviting people into theory. Will you drop the lies that bind and release the old identity? I mean, stop dragging the lie into the future and mistaking it for wisdom because it's just simply not. It is what it is, and let's call it out for what it is. It's a lie.

Allen 32:04

It is a lie, and passivity runs rampant in society today, and it runs rampant in in the Christian community. We're not just sitting here. He didn't say, Hey, just kick it until Jesus comes back and he'll make everything better. Yeah. Uh he said, go and make disciples. And uh, we'll talk about that. Uh actually, I think we'll talk about it in the next episode. I think we said go. He didn't say chill, he said go and make disciples. That's not passive, that's active. It's a divine partnership with the one who created us, the one who heals us uh from the inside out. But uh that's next episode. But now uh let's go through it once again for the cheap seeds. In case you missed it the first time through, if if someone realizes that they've been living from a lie-based belief, the first move is to identify the lie. What are you believing? Remember, we said holy, we said ask him. Just ask him. Get still and be quiet, get out of the noise, put the phone in the other room and say, Holy Spirit, what am I believing right now? Don't stop at I feel anxious, I feel rejected, I feel ashamed. What's at the core of the feeling? We got to settle down, we got to get quiet, we got to ask the Holy Spirit, what am I believing right here? That question matters because feelings, feelings are important. We're not doing we're not saying feelings.

Stacy Jo 33:29

Right. We're not just counting.

Allen 33:31

Don't don't they will point us to a place that needs healing. Emotions are good. We need emotions. Hear that, guys? Emotions are good. We got to embrace our emotions.

unknown 33:41

Yeah.

Allen 33:41

Uh so our feelings, our emotions will point us to a place that needs healing. And but that said, our feelings and our emotions, they they should not be allowed to define or dictate the truth.

Stacy Jo 33:56

Right. For example, if I feel rejected, I may be believing I'm unwanted.

Allen 34:02

Yeah.

Stacy Jo 34:03

And if I feel driven to perform, I may be believing I'm only valuable when I produce. If I feel the need to control everything, I may be believing God isn't gonna take care of me unless I take care of everything first. It goes back, remember that that saying, God helps those who help themselves.

Allen 34:22

Yeah, it's not in the word.

Stacy Jo 34:24

That is not in the word.

Allen 34:25

That's not in God's word. Somebody switched something around and say, hey, that sounds like it might be good for religion.

unknown 34:32

Right.

Stacy Jo 34:33

And once the lie is named, whether it's unworthiness or unwanted or whatever it might be, once that lie is named, it can be brought into the light.

Allen 34:44

Right. It's about a divine partnership with the one who came to heal us.

Stacy Jo 34:48

Yeah.

Allen 34:49

So our second move is to bring the lie to Jesus. As the Holy Spirit reveals the lie, we we want to bring that lie to Jesus. And we just want to we want to pray plainly, Holy Spirit, what lie have I believed, and what truth do you want me to receive? And we ask ourselves, in in that memory, in that moment, we're unpacking a lot here. Uh we we unpack it slowly in our in Reviving Recovery Unbound. Stacey will put information in the in the show notes of this episode, how you can get involved there. The question is, here, what truth do you want me to receive in the memory? Where is Jesus? Where is Jesus with you right here? And then we gotta be still. It's not about us figuring it out. We gotta be still and we gotta listen with a pliable, surrendered heart and understand or at minimum believe that the Holy Spirit, he's not cruel. He doesn't expose lies to shame us, he exposes lies to free us so that we can release them and make room to receive the truth. Yes.

Stacy Jo 36:05

And then the third move is to measure what we hear by the word of God. The Holy Spirit doesn't ever contradict scripture.

Allen 36:14

No.

Stacy Jo 36:15

If what I'm hearing leads me deeper into condemnation, fear, pride, revenge, or even isolation, that word is definitely not from the Lord, and we need to test it. Truth from God will always align with his word, and it produces the fruit of his spirit.

Allen 36:33

Absolutely. Fourth move, everybody's favorite, confession and repentance. People get weirded out by repentance, and we've talked on this several times before, but repentance is simply it simply means a change of heart or change of mind that leads to a change direction. It's us going, we've gone in this direction for so long, and then we we've been, we're we're repenting and we're saying, I've had enough of this, turning around the 180, and I'm going in this direction. Now I'm following you, following Jesus right out of that tomb. It's a change direction. Uh, it's not God uh humiliating us, it's God redirecting us toward a life worth living. We can say, Lord, I confess that I've agreed with this lie. I repent for letting it shape my identity, and I turn from that agreement and I receive your truth. What is your truth? And I thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your truth.

Stacy Jo 37:39

Yes. And then the fifth move is to declare the truth, not as empty positivity, not as the power of positive thinking, but as an agreement with his biblical truth. Say what God's I'm created in his image. I'm redeemed by Christ, I'm not condemned, I'm not a victim, I'm powered by the Holy Spirit, I've received power, love, and a sound mind. I am called to walk in my new truth identity.

Allen 38:08

Right. And and as you speak this life over us, this is the first fundamental of unbound. As you speak this biblical truth, this life, capital L life over yourselves, even if you don't believe it just yet, keep speaking that over you and watch it manifest in your life as as the Holy Spirit works. So we've given you five easy moves leads up to one move toward obedience. As we as you make those moves, you'll be in a prime position to make one obedient move here. The truth identity, it's not just something that we say, it's something that we walk out faithfully, it's something that we believe. And our next move, maybe it's forgiving that someone you know who. It might be asking for help, it might be setting a boundary, it might be actually digging into scripture and asking the Holy Spirit, what do you want to show me here in your in your word? It might be confessing hidden challenges, releasing an idol. An idol is anything that takes God's first place and anything that diverts us, releasing an idol. It might be continuing to surrender control in a specific area that that only you know. And if you don't know what you should surrender, then ask the Holy Spirit and he'll let you know. Freedom, the freedom for which you're searching grows as truth becomes obedience.

Stacy Jo 39:47

Yes, and a good question to carry this week is Holy Spirit, what must I release so that I can receive the truth of Jesus more thoroughly?

unknown 39:57

Yeah.

Stacy Jo 39:57

Surrender gets to the heart of it. Sometimes we ask God to fill places that we're still guarding. We want peace, but we're holding fear. We want love, but we're holding on to rejection. We want freedom, but we're still agreeing with shame. We got to release the lies before we can receive the truth. Have to have empty hands to receive what God has for us.

Allen 40:19

Absolutely. So, friends, we ask that you let this be an invitation to stop giving old lies authority that they don't deserve. They have no authority. The liar, the father of lies, has no authority because Jesus Christ has all the authority. Instead of giving lies any any authority or any power over you, that bring the lies to Jesus. Let the word and the spirit renew your mind and receive what Christ has done, and walk like someone who belongs to Jesus, because you have been bought with a price of his blood, and he loves you more than you know.

Stacy Jo 41:02

Yes. So I think we should close with some declarations that are rooted in his truth. Receive these truths and speak life in agreement with our Creator God.

Allen 41:12

Absolutely. I'll start. Number one, number one says that there is no condemnation for me because I am in Christ Jesus, my Lord. My mind is set on the Spirit, and I receive his life in peace.

Stacy Jo 41:27

Two, I am not a victim. I am a child of God. I am created in his image, and my worth is not defined by lies.

Allen 41:35

Absolutely. Number three, I am redeemed by Christ. I can't help but laugh with joy. I am redeemed by Christ, and I am empowered by the Holy Spirit. God has given me the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. Yes.

Stacy Jo 41:55

And four, I release false identity, shame, fear, comparison, pride, and control. Today I decide to agree with the truth.

Allen 42:07

Yes. Amen. And five, I belong to Jesus, and he calls me to walk in my new truth identity.

Stacy Jo 42:19

Yes.

Allen 42:20

So let's close out in prayer here. Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank you that our identity does not come from our wounds, from our failures, from performance, from our appearance, possessions, or certainly not from uh opinions of other people, Lord. Our identity comes from you and you alone. Holy Spirit, we ask you to reveal, reveal the lies that we've believed and every false agreement that has shaped how we see ourselves. Show us where fear, pride, and shame and control has taken place of where you belong.

Stacy Jo 42:57

Father God, we surrender those places. We release the lies and we receive your truth. Teach us to hear your voice, trust your word, and walk in the identity that Jesus paid for. Help us to receive your love thoroughly. Form in us power, love, and a sound mind.

Allen 43:24

Yes, Lord, and we decide for faith over fear, truth over life, surrender over control, and obedience over old agreements. Lead us to a new freedom, a new healing, and a new purpose. And we pray all this in Jesus' precious and powerful name. Amen.

Stacy Jo 43:44

Amen. Thank you again for joining us on Faithfully Invested. Our prayer is that this episode helps you stop agreeing with lies and start walking in the truth identity that Jesus already paid for.

Allen 43:58

Absolutely. You, friends, yes, you, you were created on purpose for God's purpose. Walk in truth, walk in freedom, walk in and with Christ.

Stacy Jo 44:10

And until next time, keep investing faithfully in what God has placed in your hands, because when you faithfully invest, God brings the increase. He does.

Allen 44:22

Have a great week. God bless you and your families. Thanks for joining us on Faithfully Invested with Alan and Stacy Joe. If today's conversation encouraged you, challenged you, or helped you see your calling more clearly, don't keep it to yourself.

Stacy Jo 44:39

That's right. Share it with a friend, leave a five-star review, and keep leaning into God's blueprint for your life, your leadership, and your legacy. So until next time, remember when you invest in his kingdom, he brings the increase.