I Am An Awesome Spirit Being

Today, we'll continue on taking a look at the 4-false beliefs that govern the life of someone in addiction (as well as those who are trapped by sin and religion).

They are a system of belief's that cause us to see ourselves in a way that is unhealthy. God never intended us to measure ourselves by what we have done, or as we say, by our performance. 

Ephesians 2:8 reads:
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not as a result of works (or behavior), so that no one may boast.
(Message Bible) -  Saving us is all His idea and all His work. All we do is trust Him enough to let Him do it. It's is God's gift from start to finish!
So with this in mind, let's move on.

False Belief # 3
Those who fail are unworthy of being loved and deserved to be punished.
This is the false belief that drives people away into isolation. The thought and idea that no one could ever love them. In their minds, they deduce that if they were good people, they would not have done the things they've done, but because they did, they are not worthy to be loved. What's more, they need to be punished. This is where guilt and shame come into play. When we operate in this false belief, we punish ourselves. Guilt is the feeling I have for the wrong I have done. Shame is directed at me as a person. Put the two toxic emotions together, and the only hope of ever coming out of that pit is the love of God being poured over this individual. 

And now we come to the fourth false belief.
False Belief #4
I am what I am. I cannot change. I am hopeless
This false belief, when allowed to fester in our minds and hearts, turns the key and locks us into a life of despair and hopelessness. It truly takes an intervention by God's Holy Spirit into this life to break this dangerous belief. 
When one resigns themselves to this false belief, they can see no way out. But yet, in some cases, reaching this point of believing you cannot change is where a person comes face to face with their need for God. A good friend of mine tells of reaching such a point. Sitting down with His Bible and a glass of whiskey, he'd reached the point of realizing that his life was hopeless. He prayed to God and said, "God, I can't quit. If I'm to die a drunk, I guess I'll be o.k. with that." It was at that point that he actually began to take that journey out of all the darkness he'd drank himself into.

If you have read the posting from yesterday, along with today's, then you see that the most dangerous thing we can do is define ourselves by what we have done. To see ourselves as the person God created us to be when we move into the salvation He has offered us, we only have to look to the declaration that we say at Rapha.

Because of Christ's redemption
I am a new creation of infinite worth

I am deeply loved

I am fully pleasing
I am completely forgiven

I am totally accepted by God

I am absolutely complete in Christ

When my performance reflects this new identity

that reflection is dynamically unique
There has never been another person like me in the history if mankind

Nor will there ever be
God has made me an original

A one-of-a-kind person

A special person

And so are you

God on you....

mb