Identity Attacked: How Satan Authors Lies
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Since the beginning of time, identity has been repetitively attacked.
It’s impossible to reach your destiny without being secure in your identity. Satan knows this. As a result, he has made it his personal mission to attack every human being’s identity. In his craftiness, he often uses pain, trauma, abuse, and the words of others to accomplish his mission.
Identity In The Garden
In the Garden, Adam and Eve had everything. With the exception of one tree, nothing was off-limits to them. They enjoyed life, fellowship with God, and an incredible marriage. Their lives were intended to be blessed, not cursed.
All was going well until Satan showed up. Whispering lies into Eve’s ears, Satan twisted the words of God. He convinced her to believe that she was limiting herself by avoiding that one tree. Understanding the importance of identity, he perverted her thoughts and led her to believe that she was currently inferior.
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He argued that she had not understood the message correctly. After all, she did not hear this directly from the Lord. Instead, it was secondhand information passed down from Adam. And finally, Satan convinced her to believe that there would be no repercussions for disobeying the Lord. Surely the only thing that would happen would be that she would gain the same wisdom and knowledge of God.
Bowing to the father of all lies, Eve fell to temptation. Her life would never be the same.
Immediately, guilt and shame entered her mind and heart. She faced separation between herself and God. She learned to point her fingers at everyone else instead of taking responsibility for her choices. The honeymoon stage of her life abruptly ended as tension entered into her marriage. Lastly, her choice opened the door for sin to crouch at the door of her offspring.
A Narrative Of Lies
Satan relishes the ability to convince people that they are the sum of their past mistakes or the things done to them. The narrative he quickly scripts places limitations on reaching one’s full potential. Here are just some common lies of the enemy:
- No one will love you.
- You will always be a failure.
- Nobody wants to be around you.
- You are worthless.
- Things will never change.
- You are not good enough.
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This is not an exhaustive list, as Satan will use any means possible to attack an individual. He knows the plans that God has in mind for each person. In his mind, winning the war means ensuring that no one is able to connect deeply with God in order to pursue the future that lies ahead.
As these lies are accepted as truths, individuals, marriages, and families can all quickly be destroyed.
Man’s Identity: Help Or Hindrance?
A man who struggles to know his identity in Christ will always feel inadequate and inferior. Without verbalizing it, not only will he struggle to connect with others, but he will perceive distance between himself and God.
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While he will pray, a percentage of him will feel that his prayers are hindered. He’ll reject the truth that he can approach the throne room of grace regardless of his past. Instead of seeing himself as the valiant warrior that God designed him to be, he may see himself as the failure that others have told him he is.
Deep feelings of rejection may also have taken root in his life. These may have stemmed from a parent who walked out on their spouse, and in doing so, chose to walk away from their kids too. For others, the rejection may have entered through being picked last for teams in elementary school.
Without choosing to heal from the broken, lie-based beliefs he is carrying around, a man will never reach his full potential. In an attempt to avoid future pain, he will erect walls around his heart that does not allow others to get close to him.
He will be unable to lead in the capacity that God designed him to lead. His home will be out of order, as he forcefully leads through the mindset of domination and submission.
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Woman’s Identity: Domination Or Submission?
Women who do not know their identity in Christ are equally affected. Their past experiences may serve to tell them that they will never amount to anything or that others cannot be trusted. Pursuing a prestigious career at the expense of a family may be their way of proving themselves to be worthy.
A woman who was sexually abused may withhold physical intimacy as it may trigger replays of that trauma. If the abuse happened at the hands of a family member or friend, she may struggle to feel safe with those who claim to love her.
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The need to be in control could become a dominant trait that is exercised often. People may have let her down so much in life that she has developed the mindset that it’s better to just do things for yourself. Or, if she was raised in a single-parent home, she may lack an understanding of the value of husband and wife working together to reach their goals for the future.
She may feel rejected, unwanted, and unloved. Regardless of what others say and do, if she hasn’t welcomed and accepted the full love of Christ into her life, she will constantly believe in her inadequacy instead of her potential.
Destroying The Family
When her feelings are combined with her husband’s inability to lead well because of unresolved past hurts, the home is out of alignment. The husband tends to lead through his own capabilities, instead of putting his complete faith, hope, love, and trust in God. The wife, recognizing that her husband’s strength is not sourced through God alone, may reject the idea of him leading her.
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By wrecking the identity of individuals, Satan is ferociously destroying the identity of marriage too. By doing this, he also seeks to wreak havoc on the image of God’s love for the Church. This leads to deception and a reluctance to submit one’s life to the Lord. It causes people to reject the love of the Father, believing that no one could possibly love in the capacity that Christ loves us.
Marriage sets the tone for your children’s relationship with others and with God. By destroying the husband’s and wife’s individual identity, Satan destroys the marriage, which initiates the destruction of the children as well.
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Finding Your Identity In Christ
It doesn’t have to be this way. Men and women can both benefit from healing the wounds of the past that cause them to reject their identity in Christ.
The Conquer Series, a powerful 10-week course available through digital streaming at SoulRefiner.com, is a great place to start. Covering topics such as the brain, past hurts, and the strongholds of Satan, individuals will begin to recognize how the past is contributing to a struggle with pornography or sexual sin. Each week, you will be reminded that you can wage war against Satan and win!
So what are you waiting for? Your future, your marriage, and your children depend on it. You are not the sum of your past mistakes or the things done to you! Today is the day that you can begin speaking life into the victory that awaits you.