The 318 Project
The 318 Project
Who Are You?
We tend to associate ourselves with a college team, pro team or any sports team that we are a fan of; but does that really identify who we are?
We see people, in today’s society, questioning their very identity. They want to be identified in so many different ways that it is no wonder our society is in turmoil and confusion; yet we know that God created 2 identifiable genders in Male and female. Does that still truly explain who each of us are?
People everywhere are struggling with that very question and we see how more and more are going to counseling and are put on medication and still they can’t find a peace with it.
I want to pose 3 questions for you to answer for yourself. You can write them down on your notepads or wherever you can.
- What is your Title? - Pastor, deacon, teacher, coach, engineer, firefighter, chief, doctor. This is usually associated with your work or something you do.
- What do people call you? Dad, mom, grandma, granddaddy, Pops, son, daughter, jerk, loser, dummy, idiot, explicit names, Sir, maam, jock, dead-beat or something that describes your personality or behavior.
- Who do you see yourself as, especially spiritual traits or gifts? Prayer-warrior, mentor, comforter, Word of Knowledge, healing, prophecy, and discernment.
How does God see each of us and do we see ourselves the way that He sees Us?
So, how are we to see ourselves?
It isn’t through a title, a description from yourself or others, and it isn’t through what you have or haven’t done as a child of God.
Paul told the church in Ephesians 2:10 that, “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”
Ephesians 3:20 say, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,”.
Song - Identity by Velvet Moon https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/XUoXHitDzJ/
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Has there ever been a moment when you met somebody for the first time and somewhere during the conversation, they ask, which are you? You probably are shocked and confused by the question. So you asked them, what did they mean? And they've come back and simply say, What team do you cheer for? Who is your favorite team? What's your favorite sport? Does that really identify who we are?
In this episode of the 318 Project, I'm going to talk about our identity and who are you? And not just in what society says, but who are you in Christ? In this episode of the 318 Project.
Hello. I'm Ryan here and welcome to the 318 Project. So, that little scenario that I talked about at the beginning actually did happen to my mom years ago when we moved down to Florida. One of her first days at work, she was asked, which are you? Of course, she was confused by the question and asked the person what they meant.
And they simply said, well, are you a gator? A Seminole, a Hurricane, or a Bulldog? Which team do you cheer for? Isn't it ironic how we tend to associate ourselves with a college team, or a professional team, or any sports team that we are a fan of? Even when it comes time for national events such as the World Cup or the Olympics, we share our nationality.
as our identity. But again, does that identify who we really are? We see people in today's society questioning their very identity. They want to be identified in so many different ways that it's no wonder our society is in turmoil and confusion. The list is too numerous of all the different identities out there.
Yet we know that God created two identifiable genders in male and female. Does this still explain who you and I are? People everywhere are struggling with that very question and we see how more and more are going to counseling and being put on medication and still can't find peace. I want to pose three questions for you to answer for yourself.
You can write these down on a notepad or whatever you have even on your phone. phone, but these are just some questions I want you to think about. The first one is. What is your title? You may have a title as a pastor, a deacon, a teacher, a coach. Maybe you're an engineer, an architect, a firefighter, a chief, a rank in the military, a doctor.
These are usually associated with your work or something that you do as a title. The second question is, what do people call you? Maybe they call you Dad, Mom, Grandmama, Grandaddy, Pops, Son, Daughter. Maybe people don't like you and they call you a jerk, a loser, a dummy, an idiot, or other Explicit names.
Sometimes out of respect we say sir and ma'am. Maybe it's identities and things at school that you've had as being called a jot or a deadbeat. Something that describes your personality or even your behavior. And the third question is, who do you see yourself as? Maybe these are some spiritual gifts or traits that God has placed on your life.
Are you a prayer warrior? A mentor? A comforter? Have that word of knowledge? Gifts of healing? Prophecy? Discernment? Maybe it's other things that you see yourself as with the talents and skills of playing a musical instrument. Painting? Drawing? Or even writing as an author? Are these really who we identify as?
Some can become self righteous even in some of these giftings that I was sharing that God has placed on their lives or on your life. While others may look at themselves on a lower level, that they aren't worthy of that giftings, which may come from how you were raised or taught. Especially in some churches, they have been taught to not have a high opinion of themselves with giftings and callings on their lives.
And so they have a low self esteem. area. But how does God see each of us, and do we see ourselves the way that he sees us? In Judges chapter six, we read about God. Calling Gideon. So where was Gideon? When the angel of the Lord came to him, it says he was beating out wheat down in the wine press to hide from the Midianites.
When the angel spoke to Gideon to deliver Israel, what was his response? Gideon said, how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manas, and I am the least in my family. See, Gideon saw his family and lineage as the weakest of the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he felt that he was the least among his family, probably the runt, or the baby of the family.
Yet, we would see that the angel of the Lord would call him a mighty warrior. Even after this encounter, Gideon would still question his identity when he asked God to prove himself by placing the wool fleece on the threshing floor as a sign. Before Gideon, we read in Numbers chapter 13 about the 12 spies that Moses had sent out to survey Canaan.
When they came back, they showed the great spoils of the land and they said how it flowed with milk and honey. However, in verses 31 through 33, they told the people, However, the people living in the land are strong, and the land we pass through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size.
We even saw the Nephilim. The descendants of Annek come from Nephilim. To ourselves, we seem like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them. See, they had a self image that they would fail. Even after seeing God deliver them from Pharaoh at the Red Sea, and all that he had provided for them in the wilderness, Their self identity was that of weakness, insignificance, inferiority, shallow, and small.
Not just in a physical stature, but in their mental and spiritual stature. These are some of the same characteristics we see in society today. So, how are we to see ourselves? Well, it isn't through a title, a description of ourselves or from others, and it isn't through what you have or haven't done as a child of God or in anything that you've done.
See, Satan tried to get Jesus to question his identity when he tempted him in the wilderness. Three times Satan tempted Jesus through his identity. Each time, Satan said, If you are the son of God. As a question. But Jesus shows us what to do just as when he was tempted. His response each time was, it is written.
And that's a statement. God's word is how we know our identity. In Genesis 2, God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. After God created man and woman on the sixth day, it says he rested. Adam was made from God as a perfect creation, not based on anything Adam had done or accomplished.
He was perfect in God's eyes. Now unfortunately, we see in chapter 3 that Satan would come to Eve and tempt her with her identity in God, even with Adam right there with her. We see that the enemy will come at us to get us to see a weaker version of ourselves than what God has made us to be. Paul would tell the church in Ephesus in Ephesians 2.
10 that we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do. So what is this workmanship? We are created from the same DNA as Adam, both in the natural and the spiritual. Even with the fall of Adam that brought sin into the world, we are still God's perfect creation.
When you plant a seed, say, an apple seed, you don't expect to get an orange, or a watermelon, or any other fruit. You expect to get an apple. So if God created perfection in Adam, and we are then redeemed from sin through Jesus, the second Adam, Then why do we still have a difficult time seeing ourselves the way God made us?
Even when we are going through trials and temptations, we must remind ourselves that God has placed us there for a reason. Jeremiah 29 11 says, For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. See, Jeremiah, a prophet of God, was a captive in Babylon, and speaking what God was telling the children of Israel, that even through their rebellion and denial of him, he still saw them as his children, and that through the trials and bondage, he had a purpose and plan for them.
Even our name can give us a false identity. Maybe you have a family name that you are ashamed of because of a relative. Maybe it's a name that carries weight behind it because of fame, power, money, or prestige. Or you're simply proud of having that name because of the heritage that it instills. We can get an image of our mind of people when we hear certain names of athletes, pastors, political leaders, or celebrities.
They may indicate great achievements or the opposite of evil and shame now a story I recently heard was that back in 1880 while England was trying to enforce power on Ireland They sent land agents to evict tenant farmers that refused to pay taxes The Irish began to ostracize and protest against these land agents They felt one way to do this was to use their name as a way of shame and mockery to defy the land agents and England.
So they decided to use the last name of one of these land agents. His name was Charles Cunningham Boycott. That is where we get the term boycott from, which means to protest against a person, a company, an organization, or government by means of not buying, trading, or using their products or services. We see that there is power in a name.
Jacob's name in the Bible meant hill grabber or in Hebrew as deceiver yet when he wrestled with God His name was changed to Israel for that means you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed So what is the name? That God gave you? Well, it's not just the given birth name. In how God sees you, you are a child of God.
You are a joint heir with Christ, which means we are royalty and that cannot be taken away from any of us. Just as in the prodigal son in Luke 15, when he came back home to the father. When he returned, it says that he wanted to be treated as a lowly servant. But the father told the servants to do three things.
The first one was to place the sandals on his feet. This meant that he was part of the family and not a servant since servants in that time did not wear shoes or sandals. The second one was the ring. This showed that he was restored back to the family name and as a son and that he had prestige and authority.
Because that signet ring was one that was authenticated documents and seals with that ring. So when they saw that ring that brought back prestige and power. Now the third thing is the most important. It said the father told the servants to go get the best robe. Well in the home, especially in Jewish customs, who had the best robe?
The father did of course. So when he placed that robe on his son, it showed others that his identity wasn't in himself, but that he was to be seen just as the father, that when he walked down the streets or wherever he went, they would see the father because they saw that robe that represented the father.
And isn't that just how God wants us to be? That when we have the body of Christ, when we have Christ in our lives. That we are to be an example of Christ, since that is where the word Christian comes from, is we are Christ like, that Christ shines through us, so that when people see us, they are not seeing us as an individual of ourselves.
They may see that person, but they are seeing Christ come through us, and that is how God wants to see us. That's how God wants us to see ourselves. In Ephesians 3 20, it says, Now to him who was able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us. See, it is that power and authority that we have as a child of God.
Just as a child calls out to his father, when we come to him in prayer, he hears our cries He hears our needs and he gives us that power and authority that works in our lives and through our lives to be a light, be an example and as the Bible says we are the body of Christ and we are Heaven on earth when we are representing him in this world and that we can show others the love of Christ Through our lives.
So I want you to take some time and reflect on this And again, it's being able to understand who you are. See, you are a child of God, have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and he has great and mighty things for you to do. And he's going to use you in great and mighty ways. So again, just taking that time to know that your identity is in Christ and that you are a joint heir to the father that loves you.
So, I thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode. And if you can, please like this, share it, subscribe. And as always, I want you to have a blessed and wonderful day. Thank you for joining on this adventure of integrity and honor in godly masculinity. Be sure to like subscribe and share this podcast with other men and remember to keep building faithful men.