You Are Who He Says You Are
ICS Daily Devotions
Judges 6:11,15 (NKJV) Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites…So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
Israel was being attacked by the Midianites because Israel had violated their covenant with God. However, God responded to their cry and delivered them from the Midianites by raising up Gideon.
As God’s chosen people, the Israelites were in a covenant relationship with Him. Unfortunately, the law of Moses only served to show them what sin was and that it could never make them righteous before God. No matter how hard they tried, they still fell short of God’s expectation, and their self-righteousness was like filthy rags before God. Therefore, many of them did not dare think that they could do great exploits for God unless they knew of the covenant obligations and knew God personally. Gideon had heard about God from his forefathers and their experiences of leaving Egypt and crossing the Red Sea, but he didn’t know God personally.
Our self-image is influenced by the words and actions of the people in our lives and our life circumstances. They mould our thinking and how we behave in life. Many of us have developed our identity based on our sense of self-worth, which is based on our achievements. By doing that, we have allowed the world to determine our worth—this is how we identify ourselves in the “old man”. Sadly, because we live in a broken and fallen world, people will only cheer for us when we are at the prime of our lives because the world operates on conditional love.
Self-image has two extremes: strong self-ego and under confidence. Gideon belongs to the latter category. He looked at himself as coming from the weakest clan and the least looked upon in his father’s house. Gideon likely allowed the wrong voices to mould his thinking and self-worth, and they have created a wrong identity for him. His self-image explains why he was hiding in fear and threshing wheat at the winepress.
Judges 6:12 (NKJV) And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valour!”
However, Gideon had a dramatic change in his life after he knew and accepted how God looked at him and believed the promises that God gave him. Likewise, we need to have our identity in Christ and choose to see ourselves based on how God sees us. This way, we will be able to overcome every situation, and come to a position of rest where we can cease from seeking man’s approval.
Sermon Series: How to Do Well in Your New Identity?
