I hope you have never been the victim of identity theft. I have some friends who have experienced this horrible violation and it has taken years to correct it. In fact, they still are dealing with issues as a result of it.
Do you know that as Christians many of us have fallen victim to identity theft as well? It’s far more detrimental than what millions experience through the theft of passwords, bank accounts, financial information and credit card fraud.
The Bible tells us that
“Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. ” II Corinthians 5:17 ERV
However, we spend a good deal of our time living in the past. We still deal with guilt over our failures and shortcomings. We fight to gain victory over our thoughts of unworthiness or self-loathing. We try to move past those things we are ashamed of but are drawn back by friends, well-intentioned loved ones (?) and our own memories.
Our identity, who we are in Christ, has been stolen.
Our most powerful adversary as believers is not the devil. He was defeated when Jesus rose from the dead and we have been given authority over him and all his evil works. However, our greatest adversary is also our greatest ally – it just depends on how we use it. I’m talking about our minds!
God doesn’t force us to do things against our will. He won’t force us to accept His wonderful gift of salvation, even if it means we will eventually go to hell, and He won’t force us to accept His blessings that He is giving us in this new life. We must willfully accept all of His provisions for them to work.
How do we move our mind from an adversary to an ally? The answer is simple; it’s by what we consider. Our mind is much like the computer I am using to message with right now. It can only produce on screen or in memory what I input.
It becomes our responsibility to input the correct information. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:1-2
“With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.”
We let God’s word be our input and then our minds will be renewed.
Consider what God says about us. We are more than conquerors, we are new beings, we are His own children. We’ve been adopted and made join-heirs to His kingdom. We’ve been called to be world overcomers filled with peace, joy and strength. And if that’s not enough then consider what life will be like in heaven and all that Jesus did to provide this for us – if that’s our focus, we won’t have time to be “considering” thoughts that are contrary to God’s way of thinking.
“You were raised from death with Christ. So live for what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Think only about what is up there, not what is here on earth. 3 Your old self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God. 4 Yes, Christ is now your life, and when he comes again, you will share in his glory.” Colossians 3:1-4
It’s imperative that we guard our minds more than we guard our wallets. The damage caused by wrong thinking is more detrimental than loosing our cash. It’s spiritual identity theft.
Thinking like the world thinks will keep us from realizing all the wonderful blessings that God has provided.
“We live in this world, but we don’t fight our battles in the same way the world does. 4 The weapons we use are not human ones. Our weapons have power from God and can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments, 5 and we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.” II Corinthians 10:3-5
So counteract the world’s influence today and live this
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” II Timothy 1:7
Regain what’s been stolen. Our life in Christ is our true identity!