Identity Shift - #014

In this first episode of the Identity series, we dive into what it truly means to find your identity in Christ. We talk about the lies that try to define us, the freedom that comes from knowing who God says we are, and how embracing our true identity changes the way we live, love, and walk through life.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, welcome back to Pockets of Paradise. I'm Larson Griffith and Megan Tenner. And we're so glad you're here. We've got a good topic to jump into today.

SPEAKER_02 0:07

Let's get to it. Let's do it. Before we get started, I want to make a quick announcement. Um, our podcast is going to be releasing on Mondays. Yes. Starting the first week of June.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Making your Monday better. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

We'll be there. Um so I've studied Tuesdays. We'll be there on Mondays. Um, so if you're wondering, well, I guess we're just there early. Yeah, we'll just have a surprise if you look on Tuesday, or if you want to hear me there. If you want to hear us early on Monday, we'll be there. So today we're starting a new series that I'm really excited about. Um me and Larson have been talking about this, and we're both just feel like it's the right time to talk about it. But we're gonna talk about identity and identity in Christ and what that actually means and how to strip off all of the false identities that we give ourselves, or sometimes they're the ones that are placed on us um over time. And so, yeah, yeah, I guess we could just jump in. I'm like, let's do it. Just going deep in cannonball.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

Yeah, we're really good at that. Yeah. But then we also like, I'm gonna tell y'all, I walked in today and she's like, what's going on? And I was like, All right, we're going for it.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

We need to talk for like 15 minutes. Well, I saw your face. I'm like, okay, what yeah, yeah, we're gonna sit here until you're ready to talk. I'm really good at that. And then in the middle of that deep conversation, she's like, I found out I had three new freckles on my foot. And I'm like, wow, that's great. That's great.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Fun fact. I discovered, I don't know how long they've been there, but there are three new freckles in a line. Wow, on my foot. Like, what? What?

SPEAKER_02 1:50

I'm so happy.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

I'm assuming they're new, to be honest. I don't really know that. They've probably been there. They're new to me.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

Oh man. So yeah, that's our friendship in a nutshell, is like we're crying and then oh, freckles on my foot. Okay. So I'm glad you're here, Larson. Same.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

For you to be here, not for me to be here.

SPEAKER_02 2:13

I knew what you meant. A little bit of both. Um so oftentimes we humans, we are constantly looking for what to place our identity in. Yes. That's the big extential question is why are we here? Who am I? Is there something bigger than me? How do I fit in this story? Is there a story at all? If it is, what's the plot? Like what is going on? Someone tell me. But every human being on the planet has the desire to know who am I? Yeah. And you see that because every human being on the planet finds something to put their identity in. Right. You can't not, right? Yeah. Like, and so searching for purpose, searching for purpose, searching for meaning, searching for something to ground them, some for hope.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Yeah, believers and non-believers, just all of them.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Yeah. Yeah. There's there is no such thing as a human that does not have an identity. Yeah. It depends what we're talking about is every human being has true identity. And this could also be a counterfeit episode, I guess. But like but a lot of people are operating and living under a false identity. So I made a little list because I'm a listmaker. And um of just some this is not all of them. This is some of the heavy hitters of what people put their identity in. Um, performance is one.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

Um, job and career kind of goes hand in hand with performance, but not always. But job and career relationships and relationship statuses, success, and what people think that is. I could riff on that for a minute, but I won't. Um, politics, political opinions. Um, are you team Candice? Are you team Erica? What's going on? Um, appearance uh and how you look. Go back to the beauty episode, come back here. Yeah. Um, ministry. This is a huge huge one for me that I had to rip off of myself or allow God to rip off of me. Of like, no, I am not, I am a daughter of the king apart from ministry. Um, but a lot of people put their identity in ministry, like, this is who I am. And like, actually, no, that's what you do, and that's a wonderful thing you do. But if you did not do that, who are you?

SPEAKER_00 4:42

You're still the Lord. Right. We're gonna get into it.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

Right. But yeah. Um trauma is another big one. So trauma is um we often allow ourselves to become the narrative that's happened to us. We we allow the labels of what life has done to us define who we are.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

Um, others' opinions is another identity. So a lot of times people will wear labels that someone called them when they were seven years old, and they wear that all throughout their life. Um, and they care deeply about what other people think about them. They have anxiety about how they're perceived because their whole life they're just letting people stick labels on them and living like they're true, even though they're not. Yeah. Um, sexuality is another big one. Sex sex identity. Sexual identity. I was like, what are what am I saying? The words. The words um is another big one. And one that I deal with in counseling some. Um, but it's also such a redemptive topic. Oh my gosh. Like some of my most favorite clients have struggled with gender dysphoria or sexual issues and um or sexual abuse. There's a whole umbrella of things. Yeah. But the way that God can come into those conversations and redeem them is just amazing.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

Yeah, redeem the twisted like narrative that has been built.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Yes. And yes, there's so much goodness there. Um that can be there when you want it. Social media and how you're perceived by others, that kind of goes in hand in hand. Achievement being needed. That's a big one for a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

Um a lot of those that you just listed, too.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Yes. And it kind of I a lot of people, for example, motherhood, like a lot of times people mothers and like the empty nest syndrome, like all of a sudden the kids are gone and they're they have a crisis of oh my gosh, who am I and who needs me? And if no one needs me, why am I here? And what is my purpose? And and yeah, it can be just it can be disorienting if you don't know who you are apart from that. Right. Um, so yeah, can you think of any others? That's just a few of the heavy hitters.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

That's a lot. I mean, you hit biology, yeah, trauma, things you can, you know, have success in, not yeah, there's a lot. I so I was like looking stuff up about this, and someone said memes. Huh. I thought that was interesting. What does that mean? I don't know. That's really all it said was like memes. I'm like, what does that mean? Or like family secrets or the choices you make at 2 a.m. Like oh yeah, or there's like so many sin.

SPEAKER_02 7:32

Yeah, some people identify by their sin.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_02 7:35

I am a blank, I am an alcoholic, I am a cheater, yeah. I am a yeah, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

It's interesting because I feel like I feel like culture, like you were saying, is constantly trying to label us, box us, and then use the word bad like ship us off. You know, like that kind of thing. It's a it's a version of yourself that culture is like, no, if you if you are identifying as this, then this is how you should act from here on out in every situation. Right. You know what I mean? Like it's if that's who you were, that's who you're always gonna be. Yeah, take it.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

Yeah, but it's a lie. That's the good news, is it's a lie. So in counseling, what we do is we call these core beliefs, um, because when you are operating out of a false identity, you have a core belief about yourself or about the world or about someone else. And the thing about beliefs is if you believe something truly, you act like it. Yeah, every thought stems from a belief, and then every thought turns into an action. So it's belief, thought, action, consequence. Sure, like filter, yeah. Right, and it's a cycle. So if if the root of the consequence is your core belief, and the core belief is a bad seed, it's a lie, you're gonna get stuck in some cycles and some thought processes that are not healthy.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Right.

SPEAKER_02 9:08

And a lot of times it leads into your life and and life cycles and relationship cycles and generational things that are passing along, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:18

So this little itty bitty thing turns into everything. Everything. The whole world is based off of a thought. Like I look at this room, and everything in here was a thought before it existed.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Right.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

Right. And so it's very important that you know the truth about who you are and who God says you are, because when you know it, you can start to remove the things that are lies and replace it with truth. And when you start to believe that truth, you start to live like it. And when you start to live like it, things start breaking loose.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

Yeah, freedom in it.

SPEAKER_02 9:55

Same thing is like as simple as you are redeemed. Like, what does that mean if you believed it? What would your life look like if you believed it? Yeah, different. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, um, but in counseling, a few of the things we start, because some people aren't even don't even realize that they've made agreements with these things or that they believe lies, right? And so you start to ask questions to help them see things from different points of view. And some of the questions I ask are like, who told you who you were? When good or bad? Like, when did someone say something to you and it stuck? Good or bad. Um what labels have followed you all throughout your life, good or bad? What do you fear losing the most? Because that yeah, fear is a big part of it.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:48

And when you when you look at what you fear losing the most, you quickly realize what you treasure the most. Um like where is your treasure stored, you know what I mean? Yeah. And then what happens when the thing you built your identity on disappears. Because ultimately, if your identity is not God, it's an idol.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

Right. And it's so easy to put things like not even in you're not intentionally doing it. No, but it's so easy to put someone or something on a pedestal like that. Yeah. And put them in front, and then put like all your, you know, your hopes, your dreams, your everything into that.

SPEAKER_02 11:34

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

And then it shatters.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Yeah, yeah. I have uh family members, but also people, clients that I've had that were on track to be D1 athletes, had full ride scholarships, um, their whole life has worked up into this point. Some were out of college going into the professionals. Um I love working with athletes because there's just so much parallels to like it anyways, I digress, but I watching someone work their whole life to become something, and then with one injury, they're done. Yeah, it's a lot. If they are not rooted in their true identity, it is so disorienting. But in counseling, like I've been able to walk people back to their true identity identity and see healing in that. But that's just one example of hundreds. Yeah. Like anytime you have a false identity and your whole life has been working towards this one goal, and God's like, actually, no, that's not gonna be it. And sometimes it's God's fault and sometimes it's not, right? Yeah, sometimes it's not God's plan, but He He promises to walk you through it and turn it for good somehow.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Yeah, sometimes there's just sin in the world and it affects you and it has an effect on you, and when it shatters everything and turns your life like literally 180. Like you've got to run back to the what is true, to the true thing. Yeah. Yeah, because it is not a feeling. No, no, it's not an emotion.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

No, yeah, which I'm thankful for because emotions are fleeting, right? Yes, and roller coasters, yeah, yeah. So like the athlete is one example where his whole life was built up around this thing, and in a moment it was taken from him, and he had to ask, Who am I and what am I worth? Yeah. And then you have the young child who was sexually abused by someone who should have been protecting them. And they're growing up with a false worldview and a false core belief that Yeah, core belief for sure. Yeah, like something's wrong with me, or it was my fault, or they're just harnessed by shame, which is not of God. And God's like, no, no, no, no. Let me remind you who you are.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

Yeah. Um or if I let anyone close to me, the Yeah. Yeah, then I'll be hurt by it.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

Or I will be promiscuous because I'm in control of who's close to me and no one will ever hurt me again because I it's my choice.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

Yeah, I feel like a lot of things of what all the examples you said, like there is such a level of control. Yeah, like you were saying, that plays into it, that's so unhealthy. I mean, but I think we all go through phases of it where we have to remind ourselves to release control back to the Lord. And it's a natural defense mechanism.

SPEAKER_02 14:35

Like, if we when someone is trying to control something, they're trying to feel safe. Right. That's what's happening. And so, like you're the control helicopter mom doesn't want to be an annoying helicopter mom. She wants her child to not have stitches by the end of the day.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

Well, that already shattered for me.

SPEAKER_02 14:59

But I did okay, but but but yeah, a helicopter mom does not allow their child to mess up in a safe environment, like, which is not good either. Yeah. You have to release that control and say, okay, I want my kid to mess up. My job is to, it's kind of like bowling in the the rails. Like you want the ball to get to the end, but they're gonna be bouncing all over the place like on the bumpers, getting down there. I I always said like I was the bowling ball coming in hot, and my parents were just keeping me out of the gutter. Like I made a mistake after my mistake, but they were like, We're just our goal is to get you to the end goal, but we need you to stumble. We need you to feel that hurt, we need you to be a little embarrassed when you do something out of line. Like, we're not gonna save you from those things unless it's life-altering, obviously. You try to avoid those situations, but you try to be proactive about those situations.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

Yeah, even those kind of situations that haven't, like I even fell myself my son did fall and get have to get stitches.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

Yeah, that wasn't indicate.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

You I forgot about that. No, it's okay. No, but it happened, but I found myself being like, Well, can I really like still release and and be okay with him possibly doing it again? Like, or him getting hurt in some other way, and then we have to doctor that for 57 weeks. I don't know. Like, you know what I mean? Like it was like, I can't, you know, can't hold that. Yeah, you can't hold it, you gotta release it.

SPEAKER_02 16:22

And yeah, but don't pray but prayers. Feel yourself sensing, I need to control this situation, or I need to co control this conversation. That's when you stop and you say, Jesus, I give everything and everyone to you. Yep, every moment you have to do it. You know every heart, every motive, you know, every scenario, you know you are in every room that I am not in, Father. And I I plead the blood of Jesus over my children and I pray for protection, and I'm gonna do my part, Lord, but you do yours. And I'm gonna, you know, and and it's a different, and that it's not just children, that's just an example. It's it's anything.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:57

It's yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:58

So it can be the workplace, it can be friendships, it can be every everything, everything. Yeah. And so that's all I keep saying, everything. Everything, all of it.

SPEAKER_02 17:10

Um that I just um like it what do you think in your life has been a label or something that is easy to snuggle up to as an identity, either from when you were little or something.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

I so I I don't when we were talking earlier, I wasn't quite sure how you would label. So you can help me work through this uh and talk about it. But like there was a time where I had this youth pastor who I really respected, um, but he was kind of like before he got the job as a youth pastor, he's kind of like a brother to me, like an older, annoying brother kind of thing. Um, but he would, I think I actually talked to you about this one time, but he would be like, Oh, well, here comes Larson with all her opinions. Like, I'm like, okay. First off, yes, I have my opinions. You know, shaking my head with all the sats.

SPEAKER_03 18:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

But um, I started like kind of, I think, as in like teenage years, like I started being like, it's okay to just say it. Like, doesn't matter how you say it, just gotta get it out there, like a little bit of that. And I was definitely softened over the years in many different ways. But I think I'd I would I I don't know, it was like a sense of strength to me. To just say it like it is. Yeah. So I was kind of the opposite.

SPEAKER_02 18:37

That's really funny. Yeah. Not really in the in a bad way, like in the extreme other way. Like I would I felt so you were saying that you felt like you were known for being the girl who tells it like it is.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, it felt good. But it was a lot of control. Okay. Not not realizing it, I would it sounds terrible.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

Now that I say it now. Well, let me just pause for a second.

SPEAKER_02 19:05

But like catch that word in your mouth.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

Yeah, but it's almost like manipulating the situation to try to control to get the outcome. Oh, that's awful. Hey, that's honest. Yeah, but that's I was I was that person. Like, that's awesome to see how far you've come. Like, you're not that person anymore.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Yeah. I'm like, I don't know. What does the Lord want? It's exhausting. Everything is shattered. I don't know. Oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

I don't want control anymore.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

Yeah, no, it doesn't work.

SPEAKER_02 19:37

I turned up my way long enough and I'm done.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:39

So you were the opposite? Yeah. I so I, as a young girl, I was very loved, but I was the middle child. And it's funny because my daughter is just like me. So my dad, like, he'll look at my daughter and he's like, Don't you love her so much? Like, genuinely saying, and it's healing for me. Yeah. Because all I hear about from my childhood and remember from my childhood is how I'm too dramatic or I'm too, I was just extra, extra sauce all the way. And and I was, I was just a lot. I was always dressed to the nines, I was always just funny and loud. And and when I was little, I was encouraged to be myself. And then somewhere around middle school, there was a group of mean girls that kind of um challenged that. And I quickly started to believe that I was too much for people to handle. And like if I was my true self, people wouldn't really like me. And so I started to rein myself in, and then I became a people pleaser doormat and got myself in some really bad situations.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

Like a shell. Yeah, yeah. I feel like I now in life I'm trying to like buck up against that because I don't want to like it's it's crazy how it's like shifted, but like I don't want to be too much, but like my reality is my reality, and like yeah, it's life stinks sometimes, and and you have to cry sometimes and and surrender to the Lord and like break down because holding it all is impossible.

SPEAKER_02 21:26

Yeah. And I think me and you both have yeah, like that's just the work of the Holy Spirit in us, too. Like, I can't really take credit for that. Um yeah, thinking about it now makes me emotional. But I feel like me and you have both found our voices in a new way. Like like the Lord almost had to strip us of our voice to give it back. Does that make sense? Like, I don't know how to explain it, but it's like because of Like the Lord humbled me, I guess. He allowed my circumstances in life and my stupid decisions. And I'm thankful that it humbled me instead of hardened me. Because now I'm much more tender and much more bold. Like I am at the point where I'm like, I am like sushi. Some people crave me, some people can't stand me. And I don't really care anymore. So like, but the people who love me love me. And that's like that's where I'm at. And there's a freedom that comes from that because I know what the Lord says about me. Yeah. And you're walking in that. Yes. And there's just so much joy in that. There's so much joy in that.

SPEAKER_00 22:36

Yeah. It's not like a like a take your opinion someone else's opinion and throw it against the wall. It doesn't matter, like throw it out. It's like, no, it's it's it's not abrasive. It's yeah, it's confidence in the Lord. And that is something I feel like I have to learn daily. We're still learning. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:57

I still learn. I had yeah, I had someone criticize me recently. And I don't think I've heard this. Uh yeah. And so and I had to check myself because I naturally want to get defensive, which anyone would. Or explain, like, wait a minute. Yeah. But then I but then I leaned in and I said, What do you mean by that? Oh, that's that's a good response, Megan. But instead of like automatically assuming the worst of this person, I completely misunderstood them. Thank God I asked the question because I would have walked away upset for nothing. Yeah. And and I said, Well, what do you mean by that? And they said, Well, this, this, and this. And I said, Oh, so you're actually like trying to give me corrective criticism and encourage me because you care. And they're like, Yeah. And I was like, Okay, because I perceived it this way.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

Yeah, it came across a little different.

SPEAKER_02 23:45

Yeah, but they're like, No, no, no, like it this is what I meant. Yeah. And like giving, yeah, it's just cool. When when you start to operate, because when you're operating out of a true core belief, yeah, when someone says something that doesn't align with that, it doesn't stick to you. Yeah. Whereas if I believe I'm too much and someone criticizes me that aligns with that, it'll hurt more. Like words still hurt, but yeah, but they hurt a lot less when you know what's true and you're able to say, actually, I'm just gonna let that one go.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

Yeah. And I think I think you can get something like that's bad, but also constructive criticism in the same conversation. Oh yeah. Like, and you have to you have to pray about it to like what part do I really need to listen to?

SPEAKER_02 24:32

Like, you gotta eat the meat and spit out the bones.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Yeah. And so you you can take the good from it and you don't ignore the rest, you actually pray and like God tell me if I'm like this. It's not really my goal.

SPEAKER_01 24:45

When you hear it out loud, yeah, you're like, oh no, I don't want to be that way. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:49

Um, I think it's the same thing of like this is totally not quite into that, but when you when you go into a situation where you feel like someone does have the best intentions, there are people out there who are, you know, struggling themselves. They're a little rude and evil sometimes with how they speak and stuff. But I feel like if you Rusty used to always say, which I was married to Rusty, who's my husband, um, he used to always say, like, go in it with, like, don't cut the person short. Like, know that they have the best intention for you. Assume the best. Yes, assume the bad. Yeah, I was trying not to use the word assume, but yes, it is that.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

Like, well, because and the Bible says that. Like, yeah, assume the best in someone, not the worst in someone.

SPEAKER_00 25:35

Yeah, like they're not trying to attack you. Yeah, they're trying to let them.

SPEAKER_02 25:40

Yeah, and even if they weren't, you know who you are. Bring it. Yes, yeah. Like, okay. You can you can think what you want, but what's true is true whether you believe it or not.

SPEAKER_00 25:47

Yeah, because I mean, even early in ministry with me and him, like I would come out of a conversation and I was like, Oh my gosh, he said I was like this, this, and this. And he's like, Well, are you? And I'm like, I don't know. Like, am I? Um, but he's like, Well, you first off, you need to pray about it. Cause you know, he had an answer for it all. But yeah, you know, he was like, You need to pray about it and figure it out. And like a couple days later, I'd go back and I'm like, Okay, she wasn't being mean. She was right. And that was like really hard for me to say because I was the right one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:21

But she could have said it 45 different.

unknown 26:23

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:23

Well, I didn't even do that. I'm like, well, okay. I just accept it. But I did. I like wrestling with my identity and that.

SPEAKER_02 26:34

That that's healthy, right? It's like, okay, God, I didn't feel that way. I'm bringing this to your feet. This hurts, but if it's true, I I don't want it to be. So align my heart with yours and show me what I need to repent or confess. Repent from or confess to. Yeah. Or change. Change, yeah. Like what it tell me what I need to do, yeah, to to allow you the room, Lord, to transform my heart.

SPEAKER_00 27:00

Yeah. And I think it's interesting hearing people's feedback, and it could be someone who's close to you, or it could be someone who's not, but has just seen and and felt like they needed to tell you, you know, and I'm and I was that person just telling people for a while when I was younger. But like now I'm like, good Lord, what did I do?

SPEAKER_02 27:20

Like, God please think about your younger son's cringe. God please redeem. I'm like, Lord, I hope no one remembers that but me. Right.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

Like, Lord, please redeem that situation. Don't ever let her think about that again. Like replace it with something good that someone said. Yikes.

SPEAKER_02 27:37

Yeah. Um so um before we get into this last little part, I so identity again is not a feeling. Right. It's a truth, whether you believe it or not. And your identity comes from God. Okay. The Bible has a lot to say about your identity.

unknown 27:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:59

And I think that's a lot of times people come into counseling and they don't know the Bible. And so I'm like, what is who does God say you are? And they're like, uh, all right, first of all, we need to start reading. I was like, but I'm gonna give you a cheat sheet, and I have like a document that I made with scripture aligned to it. And if anyone wants it, you can email, like put your email in the little comment box or whatever under here, and I'll send it to you. Um, Larson has a short version of it, but I have one, it's like three or four pages long of just I'm curious if you have one I got at a women's conference one time because it is, it's like three or four pages long. Yeah, I made mine, but I'd love to see yours and see if I'm missing anything. It's probably very close. But yeah, but it's like the Lord has so much to say about you, and it's all good, and um, and it's all true. And it's very important as a child of God to know what those things are, and so and accept them. Yes, and and I told Larson, I said, I always said I would never be the mom to do this, but here I am that my daughter again, my little mini me, was asking me lots of questions, and it was the same question over and over and over again. And it was why, why, why, why, why, why this, why that? And I'm trying to be patient. And by the like, the 27th why and the 27th explanation, I look at Lena and I'm like, baby, because mama said so. Yeah. I just need you to trust that this is the answer because I said so, and it's not gonna change because you want it to or because you feel like it should, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Yeah, and so it's more than a second for both of mine and your girls.

SPEAKER_02 29:31

So I said the the answer's not changing. It's just because I said so. And so often I feel like we know what God says about us, but then we say, But why? But I did this, but I did that, but what about this? But do you remember that? Do you forgive this? Are you sure? Are you sure? What do you think? And and I just feel like God just looks at us and says, Because I said so. And I think about the power of God's words, Larson. And it's like, and God doesn't get fed up with us. That's the other thing. There's the I've been like studying his character, which I do all the time, but like I try to focus on one focus of one like characteristic. Yes, thank God for words. Thank you for that. I'm like, help me. One characteristic at a time, and the one that I've been working on is or studying is everlasting. And he's an everlasting father. He does not grow weary or tired of us.

SPEAKER_00 30:29

Yeah, because when you're like, because I said I said so, I'm like, slap me in the face.

SPEAKER_01 30:34

That's what I picture, more of like, get it together, shaking you about your shoulders. God never gets there.

SPEAKER_02 30:41

Yeah, he never gets to that point. Thank God. How good of him. Yes, how wonderful. He's a he's an everlasting father. So do not compare him to my mother. Um, but so but one thing that I know about God is he cannot lie. Like, he is also all powerful, almighty. And so, like, I can look over there at that trash can in the corner of the room and say, that trash can is hot pink. And Larson would be like, You are lying. That is not true in this room. Yeah. But God could look at that trash can and say, That trash can is hot pink, and it would turn pink because that is the power he holds. Like he cannot lie. And so if he speaks truth about you and over you, it is what it is because he said so. And I like I'm so thankful for that. Yeah. And I'm so thankful that these are things he's spoken over me and over you. And I think like this is the same God who said, Let there be light and there is light. He said, Let there be larcen and there is larsen. Here I is, here I is. But like he's also said all these things about you. So I'm gonna real quick read what the world will often say about you, and then Larson's gonna read just a few of the many things God says about you that are actually true. Okay. So the world says, You are your achievements, you are what people think of you, you are your mistakes, you are just your body, you're your productivity, you're your trauma. Um, those are the heavy hitters that I see a lot of the time. So, Larson, if you'll those are all wise. So if you'll read what God says is true.

SPEAKER_00 32:29

Um, God says, I am blessed, and I think it's important to know the scripture that backs this up, so then you can also go look it up and maybe write it, put it on your mirror, something like that. Um, Ephesians 1 3 is blessed. God says I am loved, John 3 16. God says I'm courageous, Deuteronomy 31. God says I'm redeemed, Romans 6, 6 through 14. God says I am beautiful, Psalms 139, 13 through 14. God says I am victorious, Romans 8 37. God says I am an heir, daughter, Galatians 4 7, God says I am chosen, Ephesians 1 4. God says I'm forgiven, Ephesians 1 7, I am gifted, James 1 17, I am valuable, Job 33 4, I am purposed, Jeremiah 29 11, I am strong, Psalms 18 35, I am important, 1 Peter 2 9, I am his, Isaiah 43 1, I am beloved, Jeremiah 31 3, I am his child, 1 John 3 1. I am I am a co-heir, Romans 8 17. God says, I am bold, in a good way, 2 Corinthians 3 12, and God says I am a masterpiece, Ephesians 2.10. Those are just a few. That's just a few of the many, many, many, many things he says about you. I'm gonna have to rewind this myself and like write all the scripture down because it's so powerful.

SPEAKER_02 34:01

And I think it's powerful. Like there was a season when I was rebuilding my identity in him, and I had a list of things, and it said, I am, dot, dot, dot. And then I like out loud declared all the things he says about me over me.

SPEAKER_00 34:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:16

Because and the more you say it, the more you hear it, the more you start to let it penetrate your heart.

SPEAKER_00 34:21

Yeah, accept it. I think that's the thing. Like, I grew up in church, you know, I've heard the women's conferences, the girls' conferences, I've taught the girls' conferences, the women's conferences, but actually accepting this head head to heart. Yeah, it's it's a whole nother level because when you accept it as a core belief, you replace those lies with the truth.

SPEAKER_02 34:42

Right. You begin to live like it's true. That freedom. And there's so much freedom there. Um so we have a lot more to say, and we're gonna that's why we're doing a series. That's why I'm like, okay, we're gonna stop. Um but before we go, I just want to remind you that identity is received before it is lived out. Um, so first you got to do the work of taking out the trash and then replacing it with the good stuff. Um, and then you start to live from that place. And then we do not obey to earn identity, we obey from identity. I like that. And last but not least, um you are all of the wonderful things that God says you are, but not because you feel like it, but because he said so.

SPEAKER_00 35:32

Yeah, so that list don't take it and knock off some of those, like accept all of them. All of them, right?

SPEAKER_02 35:38

Yeah, because you were a son or a daughter of the Almighty King, the everlasting father. And he loves you. Does it stop? Yeah, and he's the only one who can say who you are. He's stuck with us. Yeah.

unknown 35:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:56

Are you sure you want to adopt me? Right. You're stuck with me now. All right. Is there anything you want to add before we go? I don't think so. No.

SPEAKER_00 36:08

Okay. I think I'm gonna go write all this stuff down. Uh no. That's a good remote. Maybe we should post it to your social media. I should. Follow Pockets of Paradise.

SPEAKER_02 36:18

Let me pray us out. Okay. Lord, thank you so much for being a God who says so. Thank you for being an everlasting father. Thank you for being the almighty, all-powerful, most wonderful thing we could ever we can't even dream of. We can't even wrap our head around you. But what an honor it is to be loved by you and known by you, and that we get to do life with you too. Lord, I just pray that the listener starts to believe what you say about them is true and that their lives start to change because of it. And Jesus' precious and holy name I pray. Amen. Amen.