Show Notes
Continuing from Part 1, when life derails your plans on who you set your goals to be what is left? Better yet, who is left? This podcast will help you in assuring that you have your identity properly tied to the unmovable.
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Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:13 Welcome to the life refresh podcast. My name is Ryan Robinson. And if you were looking for a podcast that is designed to uplift, encourage, and revive your heart, mind, and spirit, you're in the right place. Welcome to the journey of becoming the version of you. God designed for the foundations of the
Speaker 1 00:00:50 Hello. This is Ryan Robinson. Welcome to the life refresh podcast. Uh, wanted to thank you all for listening to the previous podcast. We've got a great response on, uh, the podcast called anchored identity part one. Um, I wanted to do a part two because, uh, as I was going through and doing my edits of the previous podcasts, I recognized that, you know, this thing of anchored identity was a little bit incomplete. We had to happen. There's another layer of identity that we had to really go through and really identify as we're going through this new year and really setting ourselves up for, uh, greatness. And the thing is sometimes, and I think we forget that sometimes the things that we have goals for just don't work out. And after we've said, Hey, I'm going to be this healthy person and you slip up and you don't get the goal, or you are, you fall short of it.
Speaker 1 00:01:54 What is left then? And are you less than a person? So the question then becomes, who am I when I do experience failure, because identity really has to be something that is, um, and moveable it's steadfast. It is anchored. So again, anchored identity, that means it's going to withstand the storms of life. The challenges that we run into is going to sustain itself. So the question then becomes, what do we define as identity, uh, Dr. David beaner, a psychologist and author of the book. The gift of being yourself defines identity as this, who we are, excuse me, who we experience ourselves to be the eye each of us carry within. And often we feel pressured to define ourselves through our jobs, our financial status, successes, grades, uh, parents, what other people say about us and many more. I'm sure you can fill in the blank for yourself, but what happens to our identity when we do, and we will experience failure or lose someone's favor or become burned out from our jobs or our place of service that we've been in for years, foundation of our identity is shaken and altered, resulting in us hustling to define ourselves by something or some, one else these days, but a stable sense of self can not fully exist when we place our identity in external things.
Speaker 1 00:03:49 When circumstances change currently. And for many of us, our identity constantly changes to perfect example. Um, there's an Olympian named Michael Phelps, uh, and Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of an era of this generation, really. And, um, there was something that was said that once he finished competing and said, I'm going to retire from this sport. He went into depression. He, he went into depression, did not know what he was going to do, who he was going to be, because here it is the role of being a world-class athlete and swimmer defined him from a very, very young age. So what do you do when, what you've achieved or what you set out to become or do is achieved and your identity, especially when you leave the sport or you leave the job or you leave the ministry or fill in the blank, who do you become?
Speaker 1 00:04:59 Then? There's many things that are said at professional athletes, and also those who are in roles of business or have been leaders in for decades. They will, they do experience a somewhat of a midlife crisis of identity, because what has defined them for so long is no longer there to define them, but we don't give anyone the tools when they make that transition, because we end up always going back and looking back and say, well, I was this well, who are you now? That's what I want to know. And those are the things that are super challenging for many of us. I mean, I've experienced this personally, that transitioning from one season of your life, to the next season of your life. Some things have to fall off and some new things have to be built in, but at, at the of it, who am I?
Speaker 1 00:05:58 Am I still Ryan? Am I? And that's not saying the things that you once were aren't true, but they w they are what they were there in the past now. So the question then becomes, who are you going to be, excuse me, what are you going to define yourselves by? So we may get these overwhelming messages telling us that we need to define ourselves by, uh, the things of the world, but what would it look like if you base, or if we base our identity on the way that God sees us on the way that God sees us is in Matthew chapter three, verse 16, and just give you some context. This is the baptism of Jesus and Jesus. At this point, you know, we we've established his birth, where he came from, but there's a big gap from the time he's been born to this point in this particular gospel.
Speaker 1 00:07:03 So we get Jesus back on the scene. Now he is 33 years old, or excuse me, 30 years old, excuse me. And he is coming to be baptized. And, uh, it is a part of the process for him, uh, to enter into ministry by being baptized. But this is what it is. This is a good point here on verse 16, I'm going to go ahead and read it. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment, heaven was opened and he saw the spirit of God, descending like a dove. And alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, this is my son whom I love with him. I'm well-pleased. Now this is God speaking. We, if you don't have any context for voice from heaven, but this is the key here. God gives Jesus his identity. He says to Jesus, this is my son whom I love.
Speaker 1 00:08:12 And with him, I'm well pleased. So he gives him the identity of who he is is he's his son he's God's son. He gives him, uh, an action verb that defines why he's connected to him, whom I love gives a niche, a more description. And then here's the affirmation or the confirmation with him. I'm well pleased. So we have the who's. He is from whom or to what degree does this person have relationship with me? And then the, or affirmation. Now, this is the thing Jesus has not performed a miracle. What is the motivator? What is the unconscious thing that I'm trying to fulfill? Or what is the identity or the facade I'm trying to put up in order to protect my self, but this is the thing God has given us everything. We need to demolish these strongholds and false beliefs and empower us to do so.
Speaker 1 00:09:31 That's the great news about it that God has given us the power, that when we identify that something has triggered us or identify that something has made us not feel as though we're loved. He's given us the power to kind of do a diagnostic and through his power, we can get that area healed in our life. But it's because God has said, you are my son. You are my daughter. I love you. And I'm already pleased with you. Any parent, when they have a child, they'll look at their daughter or their child or their son and say, you know what? I'm they don't, they can't do a thing yet. They can't say mama. They can't say daddy, they can't do anything, but we're already proud of them. Why? Because they are them selves. They have come from care. They've come from love. And because of that, they're always going to be your baby or, or you're, you're always going to be your baby, but that's the power of it.
Speaker 1 00:10:46 They haven't done a thing. And there's an, and, and I'll tell you, as they grow, I have a young one, but I'm sure I was young once too. But as we grow, there's nothing that can disqualify us from that. At the end of the day, you are still your mother and your father's child, whether you like it or not. But it's that thing as the basics thing, the basis of our relationships, that really define us. So if we live out an identity, now God, how God sees us. If we live out an identity, based on how God sees us, we no longer feel the need to find our worth. In external circumstances, you can't find peace outside of yourself. It frees us to live confidently. It isn't that amazing. Like when we do anchor our identity in God, we have a sense of stability that money, clothes, cars cannot provide us, but this stability is what we need.
Speaker 1 00:12:05 Instead of the changing identity of who we are. They based on the opinions of others, our professional successes, how we see ourselves, and the other ways we define our significance, it gives us the opportunity to experience. God's unconditional love in new and fresh ways. And it allows us to confidently and boldly share his love with others. It is a constant battle that we live in this world about our identity. The world will continue to seek, to define us by his own standards, but the battle is worth it because as we fight the world around us will change because you decided to stay anchored and have an angered identity. You can be a place of stability, of have peace in your life, and people will come and ask you, why do you have so much peace? Why are you so cool and calm when there's all kinds of hell taken place all around you.
Speaker 1 00:13:25 And then you have to tell them is it's God, my identity is anchored in God and I trust him. So how would you believe you would live if your identity was truly anchored in God, would you live more? Would you risk more? Would you speak up more? Would you believe in yourself more? If we saw ourselves the way that God sees us, I'm telling you, we would definitely be different people, but it's our time to at least reflect and make progress on it is difficult to really stay anchored to God's word, because life will tell you we'll do different things to you. The people we care about could potentially turn on us. They may say things that may be untrue, but again, what is the truth that God has already spoken about you and how that truth if fully embraced, would change your life. Take some time to get yourself anchored in God, because your anchored identity will change everything.
Speaker 1 00:15:10 Thank you for tuning in to the life refresh podcast. There are three things I'll need you to do before you go one, subscribe to this podcast, whether it be through apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, where ever you listen to podcasts, make sure that you subscribe to get the latest episode in your feed to rank the podcast. If you liked what you heard today, make sure you give it a great rating on those platforms. It'll help get us the exposure we need to make our message much broader and reach a different audience. And three, make sure you share this episode. I guarantee if you found value in it, someone you're connected to will find value. Well, with that said, take care tune in to the next episode of the life.
