By Petey Prater
The
quest for self-acceptance is a life-long battle. Voices whisper continually in
our ear, “ineligible, imperfect, unworthy.” Self is the biggest offender, but
subtle comments from neighbors and friends can destroy our confidence too. If
that doesn’t deflate us, Satan and demon powers speak their lies into our
minds. What makes the difference between a Christian, standing on his feet,
moving from victory to victory in the Lord, and someone crumpled in a fetal
position in the corner of his life?
Self-acceptance
and self-identity are directly linked to who God is and who He says I am. To
discover and accept my identity and authority as God’s kid I must first agree
with Him about who He is and what He can do. Is He Only Savior and LORD, and
Creator? If the answer is “yes”, then He created me and is my true Father. All
that I am and all that I do flows out of my understanding this truth.
The
spiritual roots of identity and authority are found in Exodus 3. Moses, keeping
another man’s sheep in the desert, heard God call him from a flaming bush and
answered, “Here am I.” He knew where he was and who he was when the demand to
perform and the risk to reputation and fortune were low. Self-doubt only surfaced
when God called Moses to lead hundreds of thousands of Hebrew slaves out of
Egypt. Now the stakes were high, it was crisis time and he argued, “Who am I?”
In other words, “I can’t.” His next question was “Who are You?” Moses couldn’t
accept his true identity as mighty leader until he accepted “I AM” as Sovereign
and Father. It’s only in full acceptance of God’s identity that we find courage
to own our true self, our true authority. Knowing God as His child is to know
unqualified love. Only that love enables us for exploits.
Like
Moses, we can’t serve ‘til we know in the marrow of our spirits that He is All
and we are His. Only then does His whisper replace the lies we formerly
believed. When I ask, “Who am I?” He replies, “You are My child, My beloved, My
friend. You are righteous in my Son, a joint heir in My kingdom. Raid my
cupboards, help yourself to what you need, child. I’ll show you what to do and
equip you for the task. All I have is yours for life and ministry.”
Do
we believe that? If we do we don’t labor under a cloud of condemnation. We know
we’re beloved children, free to rest or dance our divine dance of abandonment,
free to pray. He accepts us. He will help us.
Joy!
Prayer power!
Our
prayer: Father, I come believing, receiving You as my God. I come in prayer, as
Phillip Yancey says, “to let my true self be loved by God.” Thank you for Your
unconditional love that sets me free. In Your freedom I accept myself and
others, finally. Amen.
Petey Prater writes from Beaverton, Oregon. peteyprater@yahoo.com