(A)
What is Imposter Syndrome?
According to the Oxford Dictionary ;
“The persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills.”
(B)
What causes Imposter Syndrome?
I found so many answers like your upbringing, personality, work environment, etc.
But what really causes Imposter Syndrome is your “Lack of Knowledge and Identity in Christ”.
Because when you know whose you are, and who you are, it changes the dynamics on how you think and how you move.
You move and walk through life based on the way that you actually think.
You see certain people move with so much confidence, you wonder what they have “eaten”.
You are right that they have eaten something, the only thing is what they have eaten is Spiritual and Mental and that diet is what it producing that confidence that you admire.
No matter how dressed up or prettied up a person is looking externally, if a person hasn’t consumed a diet of conviction, confidence and certainty, the person is still going to look drab in the outfit that they are clothed in, thud had happened over and over again.
Which is what we see on Social Media.
Through the filters, the forever updates intimate personal life details that we don’t need and of course the announcements with the motive of belonging and feeling among.
Many Christians have found themselves trapped and sinking in a pool of worldliness using the standard of the world to measure the standard of living in righteousness and that is how we starting to dive down wards towards this Identity Crisis.
(C)
What is an Identity Crisis?
An identity crisis is defined as a period of uncertainty or confusion in a person’s life.
This crisis occurs when a person’s sense of identity becomes insecure and unstable.
An identity crisis usually occurs when there’s a change in a person’s life. But an identity crisis can happen at any time.
(D)
What Causes Identity Crisis?
There are 3 BIG Reasons for Identity Crisis in the world today amidst and amongst the other Identity crisis causes that there is in the world.
1) ZERO Understanding (not Knowledge of LOVE but understanding) of the Message of Jesus Christ.
The Message was passed down to you, it was convenient, you lived through it and it had been going on well and fine until….
2) A Great Shocking Life Change happens in your life and you are caused to come face to face with the reality of the situation and it looks as if all that you have been taught is useless in moving you to your next level.
3) A frustration with what seems to be you living an “Ideal and Perfect Life” you don’t even like.
Usually people in this category just wake up one morning and feel tired of life in a BOX in a Circle or Life with
“The Family Applause” or just with pleasing everybody with what they think is “right”.
And one day they get up and just decide that they would do everything opposite from what they have been told.
I started out from what an Identity Crisis means, because if you don’t know what it means or you do not think you are in a Crisis, you wouldn’t even appreciate this session.
You will just add this to “another” of your sessions and you will miss the entire point of why this session is even important.
So,
What are the 3 Steps to Understanding your TRUE Identity in Christ?
There might be more, for I have 3 for you today and I want you to always keep these 3 at the top of your mind in instances when you ever feel an Identity Crisis Rising…
1) Understanding Your Self Discovery
2) Understanding Your Self Design
3) Understanding Your Self Image in God
1) Understanding Your Self Image in God –
What does this even mean?
Understanding your Self Image in God speaks to taking time out to study what God says about your Image, Your Personality, Your Discovery, Your Design, Your Calling, Your Purpose, Your Passion, Your Now, Your Past, Your Future, etc…
To take time out to study it, starts from you being curious or in some cases pushed to the wall, where you have no other option and then you are down and out and you have to start finding your way back to sanity and certainty, because you feel so lost.
So typically this starts with;
– Curiosity
– Feeling Lost
– A brewing dissatisfaction and longing for more beyond your “NOW”
Let’s examine some of what God is saying about you…
Genesis 1:26 NLT
[26]
Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
Genesis 1:27 NLT
[27] So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
First things first,
What does the WORD Image mean?
The Hebrew word for Image is
tzelem elohim
Tzelem is most likely from the root meaning “shadow” and so we are like the shadows God casts on the world.
If we are following this Hebrew meaning, then it means that we are living breathing portraits of God, even though people cannot see God, they should be able to taste him, feel him, experience him through us, based on the fact that we like his shadows on earth, cast on earth.
The Basic Principle of the “Shadow effect” is that, it is impossible for there to be a shadow if the object of the shadow is not present.
You cannot see my shadow on the wall if I am not in the room, I cannot see your shadow on the wall, if you are not in the room.
The Basic Principle of Shadows is that for there to be a shadow, the object must be present.
If we are learning that the root meaning of made in the Image of God stems from the root word “Shadow” this means that your life reflects a direct proof of God’s existence, God’s Presence, God’s Desire for work to be done here on earth as it is in heaven through the purpose that he she laid down for you.
God already sent Jesus his son down to save us and to show us a Vivid example of his living breathing Image, through Jesus, He is reminding us that we are His living breathing representative and that anything we use “His shadow” for fleshy deeds, we are mis representing Him and anything we take that shadow for Godly Deeds, we are indeed utilizing and maximizing His extension of Him though us as he has willed for the day in Heaven.
God is not going to come down and God doesn’t need to come down, you know why?
Because He has YOU!
So you have seen from the Bible, that this thing I am sharing with you is not “motivational”.
I am not trying to stir you up into
your greatness,
You are already Great.
You were already Great before I met you.
You know why?
Because
“Greatness is a Reflection of being created in the Image of God”.
To walk in your Identity, you have to place this in front of you ALWAYS!
You cannot let this kind of information you are learning today slip through your fingers, you know why?
The job of the enemy is to steal, kill and destroy.
When we think of stealing, we often think of someone taking our bags and running away.
Not in this generation.
In this generation, stealing has gone more “digital” it has now become a thing of the mind, soul and spirit.
So when you hear or read John 10, it is no longer about bags and jewels.
It is now about Information, Revelation, Insight, Understanding.
The Enemy wants you to forget.
To forget it totally.
And how is he achieving it?
He is doing it through Social Media like TikTok
(By the way, follow me on Tiktok @sage_nel)
By continually boosting posts that promote fakeness and all your posts of righteousness and more, doesn’t get a chance because you are not naked.
So you start contemplating, you forget that you are made in the image and likeness of God and then you open up your shirt, just a bit, then your button, just a little bit more and then you go down the rabbit hole that the enemy has prepared for you, fill you completely forget whose, whom and who you are and you find yourself naked.
The devil hates you and wants you to spend all your days in earth, being a misrepresentation of God.
Being a Shadow who doesn’t reflect God.
The Question is, would you let Him win?
James 1:23-25 TPT
[23] If you listen to the Word and don’t live out the message you hear, you become like the person who looks in the mirror of the Word to discover the reflection of his face in the beginning.
[24] You perceive how God sees you in the mirror of the Word, but then you go out and forget your divine origin.
[25] But those who set their gaze deeply into the perfecting law of liberty are fascinated by and respond to the truth they hear and are strengthened by it—they experience God’s blessing in all that they do!
Meditate on it.
Use it as your reminder to understand Your Identity in a World where you are constantly receiving suggestions on who you can “become”
2) Self Design speaks to understanding your Architecture.
When you understand your Architecture, Frame and Build Up, you won’t be feeling inferior to someone else with a different architecture.
You won’t be busy trying to be like someone you haven’t been designed to be like or look like.
Your design does that for you.
Your design helps you find peace.
Your design helps you find fulfillment,
Your design keeps you focused.
Your design keeps you confident.
Your design distinguishes you.
Self Design like we have been learning speaks more about understanding the FRAME and Structure of your Life for your specific calling and purpose.
Self Design focuses a lot more intently on “the specific mission you have been called to deliver here on earth”
It speaks more to the architectural plan of your life.
For Instance,
The Design of a Mop is for cleaning floors, the way a Mop Stick has been structured and designed, fits perfectly into the purpose of the mop stick, which has been ultimately built and created to clean floors and create a healthier world by keeping all floors clean.
(Read more on the BLOG)
3) Self Discovery –
Self Discovery is really about discovering all aspects of your life, not just your calling and your purpose.
It speaks to discovering your personality, your strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, emotions, love language, work language, patterns, potentials, possibilities, talents, giftings and the full package called YOU.
Although self discovery has been restricted to mostly “finding purpose, calling, assignment” it is more than that.
It is an uncovering and unboxing of the FULL Package called YOU and it speaks to every single aspect of your life, including your health and fitness style and design.
When you discover these, you cannot be shamed.
A lot of people walk with their heads down, because they are afraid of being shamed.
You cannot shame the shameless.
You can eliminate that from yourself by investing in the tools and teachers that will help you with Self Discovery.
You can be a Prayer Warrior and still buy a Self Discovery Course.
You can be Bible Reader and still be in session with a God-led therapist.
You can be on a Fast and still read books that will help you with your Self Concept.
As long as they are Spirit and God-Breathed,
They are made YOU!
Recommended Resources for Growing in the Understanding of your Identity.
1) The Customized YOU Course –
2) Woman, You are Distinct Book.
3) On a Journey to Self Discovery.
4) A One on One Therapy Session.
5) WONDIVA’s BLOG & YouTube Channel
https://youtube.com/@wondivatv?si=Nqr-lCeTkro6UHro
To your Growth,
SAGENEL
(Nkechi Emmanuel-Layode)