My friend, Dave, was a headmaster at a Christian school. One day there was a small scandal when some of the seventh-grade boys were caught cheating on an exam. Oh, my! Cheating at the Christian school. In a short time all of the boys confessed, but one. One student tried to weasel his way out of being punished, as he tried to deny that he had cheated. The principal for the Junior High students eventually took this young boy into her private office to confront him. Dave stood outside her closed door to eavesdrop and listen-in on her interrogation. Inside her office the principal hounded the young man over and over until finally he broke down and confessed that, yes, he had cheated. “Aha!,” she said, “So, you’re a liar.” She had worn him down and the truth came out.
Later, Dave had a private conversation with this principal. He challenged the conclusion of her efforts with the young man. Dave said, “Instead of concluding that he lied, you called him a liar. You went beyond gaining his confession. You declared his identity.”
Instead of merely calling out his sins, she declared his identity, Liar.
I would have preferred that she say, “You are a beloved child of God, and we love you here at this school; but today you betrayed your true life in Christ by cheating on the test and then lying about it.”
A childhood name or accusation can stick for a long time. James says that the tongue is like a fire! It can set the course for your life, or someone else’s life, for the tongue is set on fire by Hell (James 3:6). Did your parents or a teacher destroy your heart when instead of merely correcting you, they declared your identity? Does your story contain someone’s words of disapproval, disdain or destruction, proclaiming an identity over you?
I saw a guy ridiculed by the coach in front of all of us guys at Junior High P.E. class. It humiliated him and made him edgy and defensive all semester. It created an identity in his heart that he was driven to overcome, as one by one other boys picked up the teacher’s attitude toward him.
Words can set a fire in your heart. Words can blaze a trail and create an identity of defeat, despair and brokenness. Did you give up and give in, and give yourself over to this identity created by other’s words? How do you deal with the words in your past that still haunt and hinder you today?
You strip the word of its power to shame you, and declare your true identity in Christ.
Were you mocked as a kid? Ridiculed for some action you did? Were you labeled by peers? Then cancel their power and speak the truth. Say it like this today,
“I’m a holy, righteous (2 Cor 5:21) child of God . . . who once was mocked and body-shamed as a kid. I’m sad that it happened, but it’s not who I am. Peers can be cruel, but my Lord is the Lover of my soul.”
“I’m a holy and blameless (Eph 1:4) child of God . . . who once had a cruel teacher who humiliated me at school. It’s sad that it happened, but he does not have the power to declare my identity. Only One Voice tells me who I am. And I belong to Him!”
“I’m an adopted son (Eph 1:5) of God . . . who once was beat down by a coach at school. It was a sad day back then, but today I possess the righteousness of Christ, and I reign over that false identity.”
“I’m a beloved child of God . . . who once betrayed my true self when I cheated on a test back in junior high . . . but though I grieve for my lack of judgment, today Christ is my integrity. For He is my life.”
Your heart is a container for words. Put true words in there. Put away and replace the words from your past.
“Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.
Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
and put devious lips far from you.”
Prov 4:23-24
-Carter