Part 9: Experiences & Identity

Part 9: Experiences & Identity

Many people like to live by experiences and take glory in their past/present achievements. This is when we allow our experiences and achievements to replace our identity, and we are bound by them. We let our experiences and what we had been through / are going through determine our identity instead of letting what Christ has gone through determine our identity.

Apostle Paul thought otherwise. He said in Phil 3:7-9, "I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with Him."

Paul had much achievements to glory about. But he considered all of them as rubbish. He simply wanted to be one with Christ.

To be one with Christ is to reflect Him and to see life through the life of Christ, regardless of the circumstances.

We could have much life experiences.

We could have much achievements.

We could have even many testimonies to share.

But if we are not seeing through Christ because of these, we have allowed them to become our identity. Just because we have some experiences do not mean we know better than others who haven't gone through the same.

I have met elderly ones (and I honour them) who were quick to advise because of their experiences. But when they were confronted by truth, they backed down and realised what they shared is not aligned to truth. 

We don't take glory in our experiences. We take glory in Him and His truth.

Others think that if you haven't been through what they have been though, you won't understand and you have no rights to minister to them. If we need to be a drug addict in order to minister to a drug addict, then the Gospel is powerless and Jesus, the Perfect One, could not minister to anyone.

Some say that experience is your teacher. It may be true but it is not the truth. Truth says that the Holy Spirit is your teacher (John 14:26). He is the Spirit of Truth.

Truth doesn't look at experiences and bow. On the contrary, experiences have to look at truth and bow. Ultimately, it's not the experiences that are going to transform us. It's truth that transforms and makes us free. If experiences transform us, then we don't need Christ. In a nutshell, it's knowing Christ and becoming like Him that matters.

On the other side of the coin:

Someone could have wronged us in the past...

Someone could have hurt us in the past...

Someone could have abused us in the past...

We could have been an ex-convict...

We could have been living in a mess...

If we still hold on to this past, we are continually allowing it to determine our identity and we can't walk free.

Paul said, "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." - Phil 3:13-14

Every past is behind you. It has no effect on the new you unless you turn around and look back (that's the danger of being like Lot's wife). The new you only presses toward becoming all that Christ has paid for you to walk in.

Romans 8:38-39 - For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Nothing can separate us from receiving His love. Neither the present nor the future. But the past is not in the list. Because holding on to the past (experiences) can separate us from receiving His love and knowing our identity.

This is why Paul resolved to know nothing except Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor 2:2). His focus was never about his experiences. His focus was always on the finished work of Christ.

Never judge who you are by your experiences. Judge who you are by the Cross and His love. That doesn't just make you free. It keeps you free, regardless of your past experiences and what you are going through. #identity

Christ In You, the Hope of Glory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LXoPVKLRHs