This is the third post in our June series exploring Biblical Dignity, Comparison, Confidence, and Grace. In our first post, we discovered our identity in Christ. In the second, we explored how comparison causes us to forget who we are. Today, we’re talking about what happens when we begin to truly believe what God says about us.
Your confidence is rooted in your identity in Christ, not the roles you fill.
I love the way Ephesians chapter 1 clearly describes our identity in Christ. We’re told that in love we are blessed, chosen, accepted, adopted, forgiven, and redeemed.
But most of the time, when we describe ourselves, we name the various roles we fill: wife, mother, sister, friend, stay at home mom, career woman and the list goes on.
Somewhere along the way, many of us begin introducing ourselves by our responsibilities instead of our identity.
We are wives, mothers, grandmothers, employees, caregivers, volunteers, and ministry leaders.
While those roles matter, they were never meant to define us.
What would happen if Christian women fully embraced the truth of Ephesians 1 instead of the lies the Enemy would have us to believe?
The Lies That Undermine Our Confidence
- You’re not enough.
- No one cares.
- Look what you’ve done.
- Everyone else is doing better than you.
None of these statements come from God.
Oh, and don’t forget the comparison trap we all fall into when we compare our blessings to someone else.
Yet even when we understand our identity and begin walking in confidence, another challenge remains.
To become the confident women we’ve been called to be we must uproot comparison. And this requires a strong measure of self-control.
Rooted and Established in Christ
Read with me the following words the Apostle Paul wrote:
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:16-17 NIV
The love of Jesus is what we need to be rooted and established in our identity as Christian women.
If we could grasp even a small portion of the depth of Christ’s love for us, we would spend less time questioning our worth and more time walking confidently in our God-given identity.
His love is so much grander than we can grasp.
His love is faithful, abiding, and our source of confidence.
When I consider just how wonderful it is to be loved by the Son of God, I find it easier to focus on Him instead of “her”.
And learning to be rooted and firmly established in love also allows me to live in the grace gift of the identity I have in Jesus Christ.
Contentment grows when comparison is uprooted
When we spend our energy keeping up with another woman’s life, we lose sight of the blessings God has already placed in our own.
We tend to fill up these empty places by striving to keep up with the latest fashion, trend, or whatever an influencer is marketing.
It’s easy to fall into the weeds of measuring our worth against another woman we deem more beautiful, thinner, more put together at home and in life.
This is why so many Christian women struggle with confidence. We’ve allowed comparison to shape our view of ourselves instead of allowing God’s Word to shape our identity in Christ.
If we’re not careful, comparison can shift into resentment, bitterness, and envy. These must be uprooted so we don’t view our own blessings as burdens.
It’s time to replace the lies we’ve believed with the truth:
- I am enough because Jesus is enough.
- I am cared for by the God of the universe.
- Jesus Christ has set me free from all my sins.
Yet even when we understand our identity and begin walking in confidence, another challenge remains.
Many Christian women still feel pressure to get everything right.
Next week we’ll explore what it means to stop striving for perfection and start walking in grace.
God didn’t ask you to be her.
Psalm 139 reminds us that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” meaning we are uniquely designed by God. You’ve been entrusted with gifts, talents, and abilities that are for the purposes God has planned for you.
Your assignment is not “her” assignment.
Instead of comparing ourselves to “her”, let’s begin to celebrate and compliment one another’s calling to abide in Christ.
As we do, maybe we can all bring about “much fruit” in our lives. The fruit of joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control.
Comparison can lead us to compromise
When we compare ourselves to others – those we know and those we don’t- we fall victim to compromise.
We make decisions based on our emotions, we overspend, over consume, and before we know it, we are left with a misaligned view of our identity as women of God, blessed, highly favored, and cherished.
Comparison rarely stays in our thoughts. Eventually, it begins influencing our decisions.
- We spend money we didn’t plan to spend.
- We chase goals God never gave us.
- We pursue approval we were never meant to seek.
Biblical confidence isn’t confidence in ourselves. It’s confidence that our identity in Christ
Hello, my name is DeAnna.
I am a woman of God.
Not because of what I’ve accomplished.
Not because of the roles I fill.
Not because of what others think of me.
But because I belong to Jesus Christ.
And friend, if you know Him, that’s your identity too.
YOUR TURN:
In what ways do you struggle with confidence in your identity in Christ?
Could you insert your name in the statement below?
Try it:
Hello, my name is _______
I am a woman of God.
Not because of what I’ve accomplished.
Not because of the roles I fill.
Not because of what others think of me
But because I belong to Jesus!
If this encouraged you today, would you leave a comment? Or maybe you’d like to share it with a friend!
