Girls Gone Bible - Identity | Girls Gone Bible

Episode Date: September 29, 2023

If you’re struggling, consider therapy with our sponsor BetterHelp. Click https://betterhelp.com/girlsgonebible for a 10% discount on your first month of therapy with a licensed professional specific to your needs. happy friday beautiful people :) Join us today for what may possibly be our favorite episode yet. We really got into the important and sometimes painful practice of putting your identity in Christ alone (the pain is a result of putting it in anything else). We got deep. We got vulnerable. We got honest. Lots of insecurities and not-so-fun memories that we relived. We talk about the dangers of putting your identity in your attributes, your career, or your relationships/other people. How the hurtful and damaging words other people speak over us can become part of our identity if we aren’t careful. How there is only one solid foundation to put your identity in. Only one that can never be taken from you. We find an everlasting identity in Jesus. In Christ alone. Putting your identity in Jesus will result in a confidence that cannot be shaken. We have been made His image-bearers. Let’s walk in the true identity God intended us to have. We love you so much. Jesus loves you more. -Ang & Ari if you’d like to support Girls Gone Bible 🙏🏻🕊️🤍 Paypal- https://www.paypal.me/girlsgonebibleinfo Venmo- https://www.venmo.com/u/girlsgonebible

We're going to be looking at how to pronounce the name of this ancient Roman city. We're going to be looking at how to pronounce more interesting names from ancient Rome as well. How do you go about pronouncing this one? Caesarea. Caesarea. Philippi. Caesarea. Sorry, I thought it was Caesarea.

I thought it was Caesarea thought it was casaria philippi one more time pretty straightforward once you know cesaria philippi cesaria philippi hey everyone we missed you so much oh my goodness gV. We're really excited to be here today. We're really excited about the topic. It's on identity. Identity, you guys. Today we're going to talk all about identity. Which is a huge one because I think a lot of us really struggle with identity, so it's going to be good to really dive into it and hash it out. Yeah. I'm sorry. I think it's because we use the D what is it can you do it yeah fix it sure can you get last time i got scolded because oh yeah because you let me look

like chicken little on the podcast we gotta get some of that um guys if you know any good uh stuff for the hair after you blow dry put it in the comments stuff for for the hair? What does that mean? Like mousse? No, Angela. Ciceria, fill it by. Ciceria, fill it. Okay, sorry. Is it still? It's the hairs after you blow dry. Guys, what do we get for the hair?

Wait, I think it's I don't know, but last time do you guys remember when ari let me do a whole episode with a piece of hair sticking out in the back like this i look like chicken little in every single instagram clip one more so sorry it's okay it's okay it's okay okay so what are we reading today well first you want to get into the reading because i have to read the first uh scripture yeah and i'm gonna forget how to pronounce cesarea philippi what is it i'm gonna forget i'm gonna say casaria please angela i forget what he said i thought it was cesaria cesaria no no no no it's cesarea

philippi cesaria is what the guy said it's okay okay i really thought it was cesaria it's anyways it's okay god knows the heart um so how was your week let's be like normal podcasters you guys sorry we were um we we have been watching other podcasts and how chill and normal they are and then we come up in here we're just so ready to dive into scripture i feel like this has to be so structured every single second that we've realized that we can be a little bit more relaxed we don't have to you know yeah we can take it seriously while also having a little fun yeah um our week we well we should talk about the fasting so angela and i fasted she's fasted many times this was my first time i literally i it was the craziest thing ever yeah i we were gonna do um stop eating at i we stopped eating at 7 p.m yeah we weren't gonna

eat till 9 p.m the next day but i couldn't do it we did like a 22 hour six the next day yeah you guys it was incredible i was so alert maybe we should tell them what we did we did a fast for we did about like a 22 23 hour fast so we had just water and coffee yeah no food no juice no type of calories and certainly no chewing whatsoever and the reason why you fast is because, for a multitude of reasons, it says in scripture that Jesus said to a type of demonic oppression and issues and demons and things like that and strongholds and things that hold you down, he says the only way to get rid of these is through prayer and fasting. And so when you fast, you have the ability to really break stuff off of you. I think another reason you fast is because it gets you so spiritually clear because when you deny yourself,

when you deny your flesh, the satisfaction of one feeding your body and two chewing specifically, of one feeding your body and two chewing specifically you are so dependent on god every time you feel hungry you're reminded of your dependence on god and that we don't live by bread alone but every word that proceeds from the mouth of god so it's it's it will really spiritually clear you if you have questions if you have big prayers this is that's the time to fast because god will answer those questions during your fast yeah but um i think yeah i felt so alert with him yeah if you really want to hear god yeah like angela said really fast because i could hear him so clearly and i i felt free in a way yeah free like i felt more alive again spiritually. Like he ignited the fire within us. You, I called you at like, it was like 4.30, I think.

And you were, I was taking a walk. I was taking a walk around my neighborhood for an hour and just listening to worship and just talking to him. And you were at home and you were like, because we did it separately. And you were saying that you, you were like, I feel like I'm in my own world with Jesus. Yes. Right. everything looked brighter.

I could hear the birds. I didn't really care to be on my phone as much. And I didn't even feel like I needed to talk to God when I was fasting. I had gone on my knees, and I just closed my eyes, and I just had tears streaming down my face, and I just kept saying, Thank you, face and I was just kept saying thank you Jesus yeah thank you thank you God wanted me to read Jeremiah and so throughout the day I got through like eight chapters of Jeremiah and then I read um James again so I was just like I was obsessed

with the Bible while I was um fasting and I just there was a lot that broke off of me there's a I had a lot of revelation I there was a lot of broke off of me there's a i had a lot of revelation i there was a lot of things in my life that i was seeing more clearly and you saw me the next day in just the way i was speaking about certain things you literally go i see your clarity in the situation you can see it in the eyes everything you hold so much in your eyes yeah and when you could just look different yeah you know that one here what is it's so funny so uh my mom's not super religious you know she is now she's starting to seeing she's a believer yeah yeah seeing the crazy things that are happening in my life she now is like wow okay but um i'm on the phone with her and i'm like sorry mom i'm just i'm not all there right now i'm fasting i'm really

hungry and she's like what do you mean my kid can't eat what's going on i'm like i'm like no i can't eat till till uh 7 p.m like i'm trying to get i'm trying to get closer to god she goes No, I can't eat till 7 p.m. Like I'm trying to get closer to God. She goes, oh my gosh, how much more closer to God do you want to get? She goes, what did she say? She was like, don't you think God has better things to do? He's like, God needs a break from you. Geez.

Leave him alone for a minute. Oh, God. Thank you, Jesus. So good. So, yeah. What are we reading today? We're reading Matthew chapter 16, and we're going to start at verse 13. When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi,

he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? So they said, Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. So they said, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. My Father who is in heaven, and I also say that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,

and whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Then he commanded his disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ. Before we go on, let's just go over that a little bit. I love this so much. This is basically the moment in which Jesus gives Peter his identity. And that's our topic today is identity. And it's funny that Jesus's identity is so wrapped up in our identity.

He says to him, who do men say that I, the son of man, am? Jesus knows what people are saying about him. He's like John the Baptist. He's a prophet. He's a teacher. He's all these things, but never will they say that he's like John the Baptist he's a prophet he's a teacher he's all these things but never will they say that he's God and then he said to them but who do you say that I am Simon Peter answered and said you are Christ the son of God so it's in that moment that Jesus said to Simon who do he didn't go to him to give him his identity and say, this is who you are, so this is your identity. He said,

this is who I am, so this is your identity. And so in him acknowledging the true identity of Jesus Christ, he was immediately given his identity. So it's in the moment that we receive Jesus, that we acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, as the Messiah, that we are given our new identity, an identity that completely trumps our old one, an identity that comes before our marital status, our job status, our political affiliation, like anything before everything is our identity in Christ. And then so Simon, so Peter's name used to be Simon. And this happens so much in scripture where God will, Jesus will give you a new name. God will give you a new name when you become a new person, when you become born again.

And so he told him, Simon, you, it's for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. But my father who's in heaven, you can go searching and searching and searching to find out the truth about jesus but you can search all you want you cannot acknowledge that jesus is god if the holy spirit if the father himself doesn't reveal it to you so if you do come to that revelation you have to understand like god it's not because yes you choose it but also god has revealed himself to you and it's the biggest blessing of all time. And then he says, by the way, so he gives him his new name, Peter, and the name Peter means like a rock or a stone. And so that's why he uses the metaphor on this rock. I will build my church and the gates of Hades, the gates of hell shall not prevail against

it. Hell shall not. You should declare that over your own life that hell will never prevail against you or your family yeah um and i will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven that's our identity our identity is having the keys to the kingdom of heaven um and then a little while later it's mat Matthew chapter 16, verse 24. We're just going to read, take up the cross and follow him. I think this is also a very good, clear indication of who we are in Jesus.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? That is one of my favorite and one of the most famous pieces of scripture of all time. What will it profit to a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?

I think Ari and I are going to speak a lot today from the place of having once put our identity in a multitude of things before finally choosing to put it in Jesus and how hard it still is to continue to put that identity. And even you can be the closest to Jesus ever and you can still find yourself putting your identity in things that aren't him. Yeah. That's why it's so important to keep yourself in the word. Yeah. Anytime. Because believe me, I have moments where I do lose myself. Yeah. You start to lose your identity and things that you don't even realize. When that happens, you get right back in the word. I mean, take up your cross and follow him. That is something that Ari and I have had to do.

It's been a journey and we've been doing it for a while, but it really was this year that we had to truly, I mean, we could no longer live one foot in, one foot out. We had to pick up our cross and follow Jesus. And you can't do that unless you do it fully because otherwise you will suffer from severe imposter syndrome, which we have, severe guilt, which we have, getting and talking about something and then living the opposite way yeah

you know what i mean like we have truly had to deny ourselves fully and we continue to do so not saying we succeed every time but isn't it funny how it's when you really get close to god and you really follow him how you really can't do wrong anymore yeah the the conviction yeah you know yeah I know I you said it earlier about when we were fasting by the way I love that it says deny yourself and take up your cross when we were fasting that was a way fasting is also a way to sacrifice um it's like a sacrifice to god i'm sacrificing my pleasure my satisfaction to um honor you and so we deny our flesh we deny eating to honor god and you and i both after we fast i i can't hear a swear word i was talking to a friend on the phone and it was

the night it was friday night and i literally was like i was cringing every time i heard a cuss word because i was like i was so full of the spirit and he you when you are full of godliness like you your body will naturally reject the things of the world and things that are unholy yeah and when you're full of god that's when i believe you find your true identity oh my gosh yeah that's when you find it you when you live right what i realize is when you start living right yeah just start living right if you don't even so should we dive in yeah go ahead go ahead all right gg begin i have a question for you guys was there ever a time in your life where you felt your brain was getting in your own way? Because I know I have.

There have been multiple times in my life when there was something that I knew I should do, but for some reason I wasn't doing it and my brain was lying to me, it was playing tricks on me. And sometimes we really need a little something, a little someone to get us back on track, to get our mind right so we can have a mind that works for us and not against us. And today, our sponsor is BetterHelp. You know, I'm really excited about this one because I am such a big advocate for it. BetterHelp. I personally have used them and it really did change my life in such a big way. I can really go in and choose exactly what I want and what kind of therapist I want. And you know, regardless if you have a clinical mental health issue like depression or anxiety, or if you're just a human who lives in this world and is going through a hard time,

therapy can give you the tools to approach your life in such a different way. I love BetterHelp so much. I mean, BetterHelp's mission is to make therapy more affordable and more accessible and this is an important mission because finding a therapist can be really, really hard, especially when you're limited to the options in your area. And BetterHelp is a platform that makes finding a therapist so much easier because it's online, it's remote, and by just filling out a few questions, BetterHelp can match you to a professional therapist in as little as a few days. You guys, make your brain your friend. It's really easy to sign up and get matched with a therapist. All you're going to do is go to betterhelp.com slash girlsgonebible for 10% off your first month. That was betterhelp.com slash girlsgonebible, B-E-T-T-E-R-H-E-L-P dot com slash G-I-R-L-S-g-o-n-e-b-i-b-l-e for 10% off your first month it is really helpful to our channel if you go and click on it but you also get a discount and I promise you better help is so worth it um when I you guys I had no idea who I was at one point.

I would sit in church and be like, who am I? Who do you want me to be? What do you want me to do? I don't even, my friends would look at me and be like, Arielle, do you know how good you are? How smart you are? How, how just, do you even realize who you are how smart you are how how just you do you even realize who you are and i'd be looking around like who are you you're not talking to me like i i didn't it was like i had imposter syndrome

i didn't believe people when they would tell me that i was good but when i started my walk with jesus and i realized and i started getting into the word and realizing how to live right yeah not that I wasn't I was living wrong but really really live like Jesus I started to slowly feel good and when you feel good you start to feel like yourself and that's when you find your identity when you're living right yeah you know yeah I love that so much you have to you know Erwin said something great the other week that really stuck with me when he was like, yes, you speak in the name of Jesus, and that's important.

We pray in the name of Jesus. It's the most important thing, but it's also important to act in the name of Jesus. It's also important to treat others in the name of Jesus. And, like, you will will a lot of people struggle finding their identity because they aren't acting in ways that coincide with scripture and and God and so it's hard to find your identity when you're not doing the right things when you're not acting right yeah um I know for me, like. I have put my identity is the people's number one struggle. I really believe that that's where a lot of issues come from, because when you don't know who you are, how are you going to stand strong and who you are in the face of adversity and trials?

in the face of adversity and trials. The only place that you can have an identity that is solid, like it says in the Bible, I will build my church upon this rock. Jesus is a rock. He's the only place in which we can put our identity and it never be taken from us. When we put our identity in anything other than Jesus, it can be stripped from us when we put our identity in anything other than Jesus it can be stripped from us immediately it can be taken from under us whether it be people career money status anything

like there's been so many things that I've put my identity in um and let's get into it let's let's start from the very beginning and talk about throughout our lives the things we've put our identity in. I'll start. We can get to relationships because we know that's kind of the number one way, unfortunately. When I was younger, I have... Oh, by the way, this week we went on Elevation Church, Elevation Church Youth's podcast, and it was so much fun with J.T. Smith and Nate Diaz. They are the coolest. Their whole crew was amazing. I don't know when it's going to come out, but it'll be soon. But we talked a little bit about how I spent most of my life getting in trouble. I got suspended from school for the first time when I was in third grade. And I never stopped getting in trouble like a major like that i got suspended from school for the first time when

i was in third grade and i never stopped getting in trouble i know i was always suspended i can't even imagine i what me neither honestly i was a little such a good kid i was a little thank you jesus that's that's ang when she saved i was honestly such a little degenerate for no reason i was imagine imagine me third grade and i'm the poor my poor mother my poor immigrant mother I was honestly such a little degenerate for no reason. I can't even imagine it. Imagine me third grade and my poor mother, my poor immigrant mother is being called by my school. And my mom's like, this is not what I brought you to this country for. Like, be normal. I don't.

But my issue was, and I said on the podcast, because they said, what would you tell your high school self? And I said, I would tell my high school self you're enough Jesus loves you and you don't need to keep acting out like this I had no identity to the point where I was just caught I didn't have even at a young age and it carried into my adult life and it's not a product of my home life because my parents were so incredible and I'll get into that. And I had two older brothers who were so good to me. So I don't know where it came from. I really don't. Maybe I'll go to therapy and unpack it because for some reason I lacked the self-respect because I wouldn't respect my elders because I don't think I had respect for myself. And so I would just, I hated authority. I didn't have a fear of God within me and it says

in the bible like you need to fear your elders I didn't fear my elders because I didn't fear God yeah um and so when I got into high school I then started placing my identity in boys and having boyfriends yeah and I would not go to school and I would hang out with my friends and I would, I started drinking when I was in high school. I was placing my identity and being fun and being the party girl and being like all these things, having boyfriends and, and, you know, being liked by guys and being desired by guys. And I just wish so badly I could go back to myself and be like first of all just focus on school you're a kid like act like a kid and I just know that I lacked identity yeah and that's why I acted like that yeah I also for a long time until I really came into into relationship with God I didn't think that I was

a smart person how old were you when you started to feel um more you know smart confident and you really grew into yourself when do you think that was 23 right I think it started I mean I really came into myself when I was when I was like in my 20, like 23. I think when I turned 18 and I moved to L.A., that was a huge shift for me because I was on my own for the first time. And you're kind of forced to grow up a little bit. But, yeah, it wasn't until I was probably like 20 years old that I came into my own, that I started to value myself and my mind. And I and I and people always told me, like, you smart girl you're smart you're smart but I don't think I ever believed them like you said I think I really struggled to take that compliment but and I always knew I wanted to be valued for my brain like I

wanted to be valued for being a smart girl and a smart person, but I couldn't value myself for that for some reason. I was listening to these lies from the enemy telling me that my outward appearance is more important or being fun is more important. It's something that I desired for myself so much, but I couldn't accept it. I don't know why. Well, thank you, Jesus, because I look at you now

and you are one of the most, I look up to you for this, the most confident, most bold. You don't let anything get you down. It is absolutely incredible. I love you so much. No, I'm telling you, because sometimes I see it with her. People try to get her down to the ground and she will have less than a minute of that doubt. And doubt and then she'll be like she'll put her shoulders back and be like absolutely not i refuse jesus loves me yeah it's it's really beautiful to see and it's actually taught me a lot yeah yeah you have to you have because god and that's i finally started to be and i you're

right i didn't have boldness at all i had boldness like in the wrong ways like I knew how to walk into a room and you're very similar to me we know how to walk into a room and work it and like you know and and and that's just the truth and we had boldness in that way we do you know I was thinking about that actually because when you and I go somewhere we know how to really whatever but I think a lot of the times when I would do that too I was putting my identity not into who I was as a person yeah I would and I think it's good though to have that confidence but sometimes you'll walk in boldly but you're still not feeling good inside and a lot of the times I still wasn't feeling good inside yeah 100% I've i think coming into my relationship with jesus of for the past however many years this is how my confidence has changed and i used to be confident in the sense

that yes i could walk into a room and i felt like i could talk to anyone i could do anything i wasn't afraid i wasn't shy i i just like you like we can talk to a wall like truly now and i would have described me as having loud confidence back then now i have a quiet confidence not because i think i'm great but because i know who jesus is and i know that god formed me in my mother's womb um and i'm so important and so specific that i'm able to walk into a room and I don't have to say anything yeah and my confidence is really quiet because I know my identity lies not in myself to where I have to prove myself it relies on in Jesus yeah and so I don't have to prove myself yeah you know so beautiful that is that's and I think that really is the goal yeah that's the goal before all else

before you accomplish your dreams before you get into that relationship before anything definitely before you get into that relationship really because it's just going to keep failing and failing and failing until you find your true identity yeah you know because you're always going to be unhappy and lacking something within. Oh, yeah. What was your identity growing up? It's so funny. When we were when we said identity, I started to think back when I was a kid and I always so I'm naturally a redhead, which is so funny. And I just I don't know. I never really felt accepted. Like I no one really. I don't know. I never felt accepted like I no one really I don't know I never really was popular in school or anything like that and then um my first year of high school me and my

best friend Courtney we went to this hair salon and we got our hair dyed blonde so I was they dyed me platinum blonde I looked like a different person I walk out of this hair salon no one's ever whistled at me or anything like that I was just this little you know girl and all of a sudden this this car starts beeping at me and on the first day of high school I walk in my whole it was like my whole world changed all the boys started liking me I was like this whatever like it was my you know and I felt like that became my identity oh I have to have my hair blonde I have to wear all this makeup I have to wear good clothes so that was like my whole and then and then because of that I wanted to grow up so fast yeah if I could go back would, if I could tell anyone, if any high schoolers are listening, please.

You have so much time to be grown and so little time to be a kid. If I could go back and be a kid and just be a kid. Why did we want to grow up so fast? All I wanted was, I wanted to be an adult. I would see like adult, like young adults go into the movies with their boyfriends at like eight years old and being like i god i can't wait to do that now i'm like i've had enough like i don't need to do that at all that's another thing i would take back to being in relationships so young yeah yeah yeah that's another thing that steals you

from your identity yeah um but yeah so i i put my identity into into that and i couldn't even really focus on school really yeah um neither did i just the makeup the hair the looking good so my whole identity was my appearance yeah looking good yeah and i was so much more than that. Yeah. I was someone who loved so deeply, who helped others in school. I was smart. And I think growing, I think when you're young, how you grow up and your parents are really a byproduct of your identity as well. Yeah. My dad was always working.

He was the greatest father, but he was always at work. And I don't know. I work and I don't know I just I don't know but so then you know of course I had these big dreams and then I put my identity into my dreams and and and I felt like if I didn't make it I was going to be nothing because without these dreams I was just nothing yeah and um so I had all this pressure on me and I just completely lost myself I also felt like I was not smart enough I felt like all I had was was to to sell on my looks yeah um I think that's a really common thing for you're obviously stunning and I think it's a really common thing for girls and people in general who are pretty or good looking to feel like because they're pretty

everything else about them that might be valuable is completely invalid yeah you know but you know what's funny it's I never when people would tell me, oh, oh, you're beautiful. I was like, what are you talking about? Yeah. No, I'm not. I felt like imposter syndrome. I didn't feel, when people told you that, did you feel good? It's so funny.

I also have had, but I have that in every, usually, I used to have this in most compliments people gave me, the imposter syndrome. Yeah. Where the enemy would, I would accept the compliment on the surface, but underneath all I would hear is, they're lying. Yeah, yeah. The weirdest. There's no way. Once I realized what the enemy does and that he lies to us like that, I realized what it was. But throughout my whole life, I would say in my head, they're lying to you. They actually, I would, i've thought some weird things like someone would be like you look

so stunning right now and i would be like in my head they feel bad for you because you look bad like it's sometimes ari will compliment me and i'll look at her for two minutes and wrestle with myself and be like she's telling the truth she's telling the truth like don't tell her that she's lying but sometimes i'll be like you're lying and i'll be like what is wrong with you putting my identity into relationships i mean that's such a big one too yeah you know and then coming into my um my late 20s i'm like okay once when i went through such a deep heartbreak, I found myself being like, but if I was worth it, then they wouldn't have done what they did. Yeah. Like if I was really worth and as I was saying that I'm thinking, how could you say that?

How could you say that about yourself? Yeah. If I was worth it. And I realized that if I don't do this work, my elastic just came out. It's okay. Keep going. The enemy doesn't want you to finish your point, and it's so good. I was just thinking, like, hold on.

I'm going to fix this. The devil works hard, but her hair tie works harder. I have another elastic can you believe I brought my bag how do you I realize that if I don't if I don't change like I'm gonna keep going down this really dark dark path like it's not knowing who you are feeling so shameful feeling so lost feeling so bad about yourself it's no way to live you touched a little bit on parents and I think that most people's I and we need to touch on the fact what happens when you put your identity and things that other people say to you because that's a huge one because I

know that it's kind of like you know we have the armor of God that we're supposed to put on. I feel like we can also have an armor of words spoken against us and spoken to us or behind our back. And we take on things that people have said to us and take it on as our own and take it in as part of our identity when we're supposed to have like a shield against those things that were said to us. identity when we're supposed to have like a shield against those things that were said to us yeah well it goes back to when you were a kid what your friends in school said to you what your parents said to you what your brothers and sisters it's like a tape it's yeah words are very powerful and they can stay in your mind and you can start to believe what you what they say about you they will shape you we shape our world with our words we shape our children with our words. We shape our children with our words. Ari and I don't have kids yet, but I will say if I know anything about humans, I can know a little bit about child psychology. And the things we say to our kids, there's nothing more important.

If you're going to tell your kid that they're stupid, they will believe you and they will act stupid. Well, that's what I, that's that's what i that yes that's what i that's what happened to me a lot as a kid like being called those names it stuck with me and and like she said when you when somebody tells you something so much you really believe it and you will act like it that's why i refuse as an adult i refuse to say bad things about myself even when we get those thoughts we we say this a lot when you get those thoughts you rebuke it because those thoughts are so powerful you don't ever you are so much more stronger than your thoughts don't let those thoughts come into

your head exactly you are stronger than your thoughts. We control our thoughts. That's the one thing I would say you and I don't do. I don't say anything bad about myself. I'm literally a precious child of God. And that's how I feel about myself. And that's how I'm going to continue to speak about myself. And I mean, on the subject of parents, I, man, was so fortunate to grow up with a mom who is the reason for every single one of my positive attributes.

I mean, my mom, I grew up with a mom who made me feel like I was the best kid in the world. She made me feel like the smartest person in the world my whole life i was my mom my mom is one of the like they're jealous of you moms yeah if i got in trouble at school my mom was such a rider that my mom and my mom like listen i'm albanian we they believe in like spain like my parents took care of us that's also why it instilled a fear of God in me later in life once I realized. But like my mom would, if my teacher would call my mom and be like, Angela's acting out or she's this or that, she would just be like, she's jealous of you. About my teachers. And so she really just always made me feel like the best.

I was the best. feel like the best I was the best and and carrying into my adult life like I know there are people who don't accomplish a lot in life because their parents made them feel like they wouldn't be able to yeah and my mom my whole life made me feel like I could do anything she made me feel like a superhero and even now there are times where I call my mom when I'll be like, mom, I'm really overwhelmed. There's too much on my plate. I have this, that, and that. I'm supposed to speak here. I'm supposed to talk to this person.

I'm supposed to do this. I don't think I can do it. Do you think I can do it? She just says, I know you can do it. I love your mom so much. She goes, I know. She goes, you? You?

You think I'm worried about you? I am not worried about you. And she has shaped me into i truly believe that i can do anything yeah because she told me my whole life that i could yeah and so it's it's the things we say to our kids the things we say to our spouses the things we say to our friends like that's why we always say you speak life into people. Yeah. I think you and I are really good at that. We constantly speak life into each other. Yeah.

It's hard to now with identity because we have the, you know, the Internet bombarding us with things like you need to be this or you need to be doing that. You need to be this way. You need it. And that's all the enemy, by the way, telling us that we need to be everyone else but our unique selves. Yeah. We have to remember that Jesus made us so uniquely. We don't need to try to. I did that as a kid.

I tried to be like this when I wanted to be like that celebrity, like growing up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And we're all unique. We all have our own unique qualities. God made each and every one of us individually. We don't have to try to be like anyone else. We don't have to try to do this or do that. And we have to understand, too, that the Internet is all an illusion.

We said this in the Elevation Church's podcast, that it is all an illusion. There's so much suicide and kids feeling just so worthless because we're looking on the internet and trying to put our identity in that and trying to be like this one. And we don't need to because it's not real. It's not real. And we were comparisons the thief of joy. We know this, but you have to take it so seriously

that you cannot compare yourself your walk your journey your life where you came from to other people or your looks like can't look left and right to other people around you you have to just look within yourself because we are truly so special God said to Jeremiah in the Bible before I I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you, which means I set you apart. I ordained you a prophet to the nations. He literally said to Jeremiah, like you, before you were even a thought, before you were even a seed, I had this incredible plan for your life that was so specific to you. And every single one of us has an identity and a purpose and a mission that is so

precious, intentional, and specific to us that we cannot look left and right to the people around us. No, I know. And I did that my whole life. And for the first time, I feel free. I feel free. I don't need to compare myself to anyone on the internet I don't need to look at this one and say oh why aren't I this or why aren't I here I know like when you start your walk with Jesus you will seriously feel so whole that's why we are so relentless with you guys because you just you have this peace in your heart that you know that I am me. I am okay. I am God's daughter. It's okay. I don't have to feel less than. He loves me. He's not ashamed of me. I don't need to feel shame. You, you don't, this is the thing too, when you are, because it says in John,

John chapter 1, 12, yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. We are children of God. That is our identity. When you are cognizant of the fact that you are before anything else, a child of God,

you no longer feel the need to perform for people. I don't feel the need to perform for people I don't feel the need to perform for people I spent my whole life putting my identity and my value in my accomplishments the things I was good at and one more thing I'll say about because I really struggled with shame yeah even if I didn't do something wrong I really just struggled with blaming myself I self-blamed all the time that took my identity. I spent all my days sitting there being like, but I did this and what if I did this different? And that's not loving yourself. That's not being true to yourself. And when I started to read the Bible and realized

that God really, he loves us so unconditionally. He is not of us he forgives he forgives us for all of our sins we don't need to sit there and dwell we don't need to sit there and harp on what we did we we even if you do do wrong you repent it and then you let it go he forgives he's not going to take anything away that's not meant for you like Like you don't have to dwell and feel such shame. It's going to steal you of your joy and your identity. That is absolutely right. Yeah. Can you give me a little fist bump for that one?

I, you know, I, can we, before we move to relationships or whatever you want to talk about, I do want to talk about maybe some of the practical ways in forming your identity because I think identity kind of goes hand in hand with confidence because yes we put our identity in Jesus and that's first and foremost I also think then we have the ability to choose what sort of identity to have and by that I mean like what type of character to have, what type of person you want to be. And I think we all want to be people, we all want to be confident. We want to be people that we can feel confident in.

And I think, I believe that confidence is a direct result of respect. I think self-confidence is a direct result of self-respect. I think to be confident in yourself, you have to be somebody that you respect. And you need to have habits and, you know, make choices and decisions in life that you respect and that you feel is putting your best foot forward. And ways that you can do that is, you know, staying true to the promises you make in yourself if you decide one of the number one ways that you lose confidence in yourself is by breaking promises to yourself so if you promise yourself I promise I'm gonna wake up tomorrow at 6 a.m and go on a walk if you then don't wake up because you were tired and you wanted to sleep in and you break that promise to yourself, that is a direct knock to your self-confidence.

It's psychological. It really like a way to build self-confidence is to build self-trust. You can't be confident in yourself when you don't trust yourself. Yeah. So make decisions in life that you're proud of and do the right thing and follow through on your word. If you say you're going to go and do this Pilates class, go and do it. Yeah. If you want to find your true identity, you stop focusing so much on yourself.

That is, for me, the number one thing. I was so focused on myself and how was I going to make it in my life and what if I don't book this part and what if it doesn't work out with this person and what if I'm not married by this i put all my identity on that i was so focused on myself that that that doesn't make you feel good when all you're thinking about is yourself and you're putting yourself down and you're beating yourself down you want to feel good about yourself and find your true identity first you you like we said you go to you start reading the bible you start

really starting your walk with jesus and then you stop focusing so much on yourself and start living right start doing right start start helping people start doing things for other people start building a life for yourself that is is not about you when i I really started living right, started living honestly, started helping others, started preaching the gospel to other people, I started to feel so confident. It wasn't the makeup that made me feel confident. It wasn't getting my hair colored. It wasn't the compliments from people it was helping others preaching the gospel to others seeing how i'm changing other people these messages that we get from young girls saying being like you just saved me you just you just

saved me from something i was really going through that is what makes me find my identity. That is what makes me put my shoulders back and say, wow, okay, I am good. I am a good person. I am valuable. I am lovable. I am more than just, you know, whatever, my attributes. If you want to find an identity that is unshakable, unknockable, and nothing can take you from it,

you start preaching the gospel. Let me tell you, you work for the kingdom of God. That doesn't mean you need to be like a speaker again or go on a podcast, but to the people around you, wherever you can get a pair of ears to hear you, you go tell people about our Lord and Savior Jesus and you will never be more confident in your identity. savior Jesus and you will never be more confident in your identity yeah um let's get into relationships a little bit maybe yeah because I know for me our life is Jesus like truly our life is Jesus and we still are have the ability to put our identity in the people around us and relationships and I think it's so hard and I we're still working through it we when you put your identity in the person that you're with even slightly the second that gets taken from you or the second you have to walk away from that situation you are left feeling

so empty so lost so scared yeah there will be a soul tie that's created that is demonic because you feel like you you you this person is a part of you so how can you leave something that is a part of you you may stay in relationships far far past their expiration date because you don't know how to be without this person because they have become part of you when they weren't meant to. And we're two people who we if I can say one thing about you and I it's man we will go to hell for people we don't give up on people. We just don't. It's just in our blood. I know. It really is.

And I think, unfortunately, when you're in a relationship, you have to set boundaries. If you don't set boundaries, you're going to be depleted. Yeah, 100%. I don't know. I feel like I feel bad a little bit for jesus like i feel like i so i i still put my identity in other people and things that aren't him and i feel like time and time again i will leave a situation and come back to Jesus like

so broken and so lost and every single time he welcomes me with open arms and I feel like just so undeserving of it and I just feel so bad like I wanna I I I know that he's enough for me. And so I don't know why I continue to, like, make decisions that make him not enough. I don't know why I still look for my satisfaction in other places. And I know he forgives me, obviously, but I just, he gives me a love that is so all-encompassing yeah you know I think with you especially you are just someone who is so bright you're such a bright light you just you don't give up on people you love so hard and you give so hard and I think a lot of the times you just always give people the benefit of the doubt that's what I love most about you just always give people the benefit of the doubt. That's what I love most about you. You really give people the benefit of the doubt.

I know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know anything. Sometimes I feel like I know everything and then I feel like I know nothing. Me too. All I know is that I am so grateful to have you first of all, or Jesus first of all, and then you second. But I'm just so grateful to have Jesus because even when we go and put our identity in other

things, or we've tried to find satisfaction in other things, or we lose our way a little bit, maybe make an idol out of something, Every single time, God is just sitting there waiting for us to come back. And it reaffirms the love that he has for us in my mind. So even though it's not good to go astray at all. We don't want that. You want to stay on the course that God has for you. I will say that every time I do and I come back to Jesus wholeheartedly, I'm always like, God, thank God for him.

I'm thank God I have someone to pick up the pieces, even when I'm the one who makes the mistake, even when I'm the one who goes the wrong direction. I'll have I hear God so clearly and I hear him tell me not to go a certain way. a certain way and and when I feel so arrogant to think I know better and I go that way and I come back crawling on my knees and he's still there to pick up the pieces to clean up the mess I made and I just want to say that we are adopted into the family of God we are adopted Jesus is our father God is our father they're our parent like that is who we are sons and daughters of god yeah and we always say like for me i always felt so alone in my life when i was in my isolation season i felt so alone i i can tell you that i never feel alone now i know me neither when you just when you know you have him right beside you you're not alone anymore it's a beautiful thing yeah it's

a beautiful thing yeah and every every i maybe we can say a little prayer for every word that has been spoken against anybody who's listening anything that anyone has ever said to you any evil things spoken to you about about you, or behind your back against you. I pray in the name of Jesus that it falls off of you. You were never meant to carry it. You were never meant to use it. You were never meant to have it be a part of your personality or the way that you view yourself. And I pray in the name of Jesus that it breaks off of you now and forever, never to come back. You are a child of God. You are a child of the most high God, the divine Jesus Christ. That is your identity. That is who you are. Walk

boldly and confidently in the identity that Jesus has for you. Identity is the most important thing in life. You are, you can't go through life without having an identity. I mean, it's just, it's crucial that you have a strong firm identity, and the only place to have one that is truly unshakable is in Jesus. So I invite anybody and everybody to say this prayer with us today. Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite

you to come into my heart and my life. I want to trust you and follow you as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' mighty, precious, beautiful name. Amen. If you accepted Jesus, congratulations. The best thing you will ever do for yourself. I'm so proud of you. Pick up a Bible wherever you can. I'd also encourage you to get baptized if you can as well. GGB gang, we love you so much. Every person who watches, God bless you guys. Stay with Jesus. Read the Bible. Stay in the Word, you guys.

And like we said, to find your identity is through Jesus. Stay in the word. Go to church. Pray. Ask him. We love you. We love you. So much.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he turn his face towards you and give you peace, peace, peace, peace, peace, joy, laughter, hope, long-suffering patience gentleness and kindness everything that the holy spirit has to offer is yours in jesus name receive it thank you guys love you love you i love you no you sorry okay when jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi. Oh, no. Okay, okay.

What is it? Caesarea. Caesarea. Okay. When Jesus came into the region. Stop. No. Say it again.

Caesarea Philippi. When Jesus came into the region. When Jesus came into the region. When Jesus came into the region. Sorry. Sorry. Okay. Okay. Thank you.