“It’s hard to unlearn some of the messages that you internalize about yourself growing up. There was a little cancer planted in my mind and heart that played out in my life in different ways.”

New Year’s is a time when many of us adopt the motivational motto “new year, new you.” However, sometimes that motivation to recreate ourselves can come from a wounded concept of our true identity as children of God. I mean, guys- we are made in his image. Do we really realize that?

If you’re plagued by self-loathing and wishing you were someone else, or if you’re living in habitual sin that you can’t seem to escape, or if you love someone who is dealing with these issues, I am so happy to share this episode with you.

We don't discern anything in a vacuum; our past choices and wounds follow us into our present and can cloud our ability to discern well. My guest today, Natalie Stilwell, has so much to offer on this topic. A few years ago she was in a place of despondence: “I was living this double life and I don’t even want to but I feel completely broken and helpless because of my circumstances, and I don’t know how to be strong in my identity and in what I want and in what God wants for me.” Her words hit me in the gut because I also made poor choices for years that came out of a wounded concept of identity.

I’ve been speaking about discernment and our identity as God’s children as my two main topics for several years, but it’s only this year that I’ve realized the connection between the two. Knowledge of our identity as children of God is the basis for all right discernment. We have to have a secure, trusting relationship with God in order to abandon our future to him.

New year, still lovable you.

Topics Discussed

• Un-learning the lies about our identity and finding the love we want

Resources

• Augustine- The Confessions