S7 EP8 | 3 Steps To Stop Identifying As Your Illness
Carla used to only view herself through the lens of her trauma and mental illness. That perspective left her stuck in shame, bitterness and defeat.
But that is NOT who we are in Christ.
In order to walk in the authority given to us in Jesus, we need to start rooting our identity in who Christ says we are.
Did you know that Carla is a Christian Mental Health and Life coach?
See if working with her is what you need in your current season.
Book a discovery call today!
Recognize Your Identification:
Acknowledge and accept that you're identifying with your illness or trauma.
Understand that identifying this way limits your potential and hinders personal growth.
Research the Truth of Your Identity:
Dive into the Word and discover what God says about you.
Catalog new traits that reflect your identity in Christ.
Recognize that you are forgiven, blessed, chosen, and more.
Rehearse the Truth Daily:
Combat negative thoughts with the truth from Scripture.
Remind yourself daily of your identity in Christ.
Speak the Word of God over your life to resist the enemy's attempts to steal your joy and identity.
Affirming Truth - Only God can define me. My identity is in Christ alone.
Key Scripture:
2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation..."
Connect With Carla:
Inquire about 1:1 coaching ---> carlaagreswellness@gmail.com
Join In His Image Wellness Collective ---> carlaargeswellness@gmail.com
Come hangout on IG with me @carlaarges
Check out the blog
TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] Carla: Hey friends, welcome to Affirming Truths. I'm your friend and host, Carla Arges. This show is a safe place to share our struggles, grow in faith, and root our identity in Christ. My hope is that you will leave each episode feeling encouraged in your journey. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode and it would mean the world to me if you would leave a review.
[00:00:30] Carla: I am so glad you're here. Let's get started. Hey friends. It is Carla here. Thank you for tuning in to Affirming Truth. Your listenership means so much to me. And if you've been blessed by this podcast, please consider leaving a review. It, uh, it does so much for small podcasters like me, so I appreciate it.
[00:00:56] Carla: Thank you. Anyways, diving in, I want to talk to you [00:01:00] today about something that I used to do and something that I coach my clients through. I used to completely identify as my illness and maybe you find yourself identifying that way too. And if it's not your mental illness, maybe you identify with your past mistakes.
[00:01:21] Carla: Maybe you identify with your trauma. Maybe you identify as, um, your circumstance or your trials. For me, it was, I really identified as my mental illness and I saw that as who I was. And the trouble with identifying as your illness or Trauma or tough situation, insert, you know, whatever applies to you here is that it limits you from being all that God created you to be.
[00:01:57] Carla: You see, when I was identifying as my illness, I [00:02:00] was walking in shame. I was walking in resentment. I was. Walking in bitterness when I was identifying as my illness, I was feeling unqualified and ill equipped and really felt like a victim. Um, and that victim mentality showed up over and over and over again and sabotaged me and impacted my relationships.
[00:02:25] Carla: It impacted. Everything in my life, because let's face it, how we identify is how we show up and how we show up impacts our relationships, our habits, our moods, our perceptions, everything. And so I really want to share with you today, three ways to stop identifying as your illness or your trauma, because this is so important that you truly root who you are in Christ.
[00:02:58] Carla: So, number one. [00:03:00] You have to recognize that you're doing it. You know, the first step to any type of change is accepting the fact that you need to change. The first step in healing is recognizing that you need to heal. The first step in addiction recovery is having to recognize that you're an addict, right?
[00:03:20] Carla: Recognition of what you're doing is important. Because you cannot master that which you don't acknowledge, you cannot change that what you don't that what you don't acknowledge. So you have to get to the point where you can acknowledge, wow, I am living in the identity of my illness. I am living in the victimhood of my trauma.
[00:03:44] Carla: I am living less than God created me to be because I have pitched a tent in my valley. I've pitched a tent to my valley. I'm not walking through the valley. I'm not headed to my mountaintop. I have [00:04:00] pitched a tent in the valley and this is how I identify. You have to recognize that you're doing that.
[00:04:07] Carla: Second, you then have to research the truth of who you are. You have to research the truth of who you are. If you thought for the longest time you were your shame, you were your trauma, you were your illness, you were your pain, you were your suffering, you were your rejection, you were your abandonment. If you were identifying with all those things, you now have to get a catalog of new traits that speak to your identity.
[00:04:38] Carla: God created you in his image. What does that mean? God created you in his image. You need to research then. What is the image of God? How is that reflected in me? Who does he say that I am? You need to do your digging. You need to [00:05:00] get into the word. Because friend, he has called you forgiven. He has called you blessed.
[00:05:06] Carla: He has called you chosen. He has called you treasured. He has called you more than a conqueror. He has called you his daughter. He has called you free from your past. He has called you all these things, but you need to discover them. I can tell them to you all day long, but you need to do the work and going in and discovering them because I can tell you having people tell me who I was in Christ.
[00:05:39] Carla: Well, it's, you know, okay. But when I actually sat down and got serious and said, okay, I am redefining who I am. I refuse to be a slave to my illness. I refuse to identify the way the enemy wants me to identify because he wants to rob me of my future. He wants to rob me of my inheritance. And [00:06:00] I refuse. to let the enemy win.
[00:06:03] Carla: When I got into that position and I took out my weapon, the Bible, and I started to do the research and I started to look up what does God say about me? Who is God? What is God's character? How is that manifest in my life? When I started to do that, I got powerful. I got powerful. I started to walk in the authority that God's given me because I knew who I was.
[00:06:29] Carla: Other people telling me that was nice and you know, it can serve as a good reminder or encouragement, but for it to actually go from head knowledge, six inches down to be heart knowledge, like viscerally in my system, I had to do the research myself. I had to journal it out. I had to look at the scripture.
[00:06:49] Carla: I had to have the Bible in my hand. I had to go through that activity. That was my battleground. I was fighting for myself. The word of [00:07:00] God is our weapon. I needed to get in and use the Bible. I needed to get in and use my weapon. I had to research the truth of who I was. And then thirdly, I had to rehearse the truth daily.
[00:07:15] Carla: It says the truth sets you free, free. From the, the strongholds free from the chains. My illness want to keep me in chains. The enemy wants to keep me in chains. The world wants me to keep me in chains, but Christ came to set us free. Christ came to set us free and it is the truth that sets us free. So you need to rehearse truth daily friends.
[00:07:44] Carla: I still do that to this day. Because to this day, there is still a battle for my mind. To this day, there's still a battle for my identity. The enemy does not give up. And so I can't give up either. I [00:08:00] have to rehearse the truth daily. I am who he says I am an enemy. I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. You have no claim over me.
[00:08:10] Carla: I have been bought by the blood of the lamb. I am chosen. I am a priest. I am a saint. I am holy. I rehearse that.
[00:08:23] Carla: And that's what you've got to do, too. You got to recognize that you've set up camp in your valley and that you have identified with your situation rather than with your creator. You have to research the truth of who you are, and then you have to rehearse the truth daily, not just to yourself, so it gets planted in your brain, but you've got to rehearse it to the enemy that's coming up against you.
[00:08:47] Carla: He wants to steal your joy. He wants to steal your inheritance. You gotta tell him who you are. You gotta speak the word of God over him. What did [00:09:00] Jesus do in the wilderness? How did he combat the enemy? Through the scriptures. That's how we do it too. We root our identity in Christ through the scriptures and we remind the enemy whose we are and that he has no claim over us.
[00:09:17] Carla: I am now no longer my illness. Yeah, I may have illness, I may have had trauma. I may still experience tough situations and challenges, but I'm not defined by any of those. No sir. I am defined by the creator who created me. Only the artist gets to define their art and I am the handiwork, a masterpiece of the same God that put the universe together.
[00:09:48] Carla: He is who defines me. He has called me beloved. He has called me with purpose. He has told me he has a hope and a future [00:10:00] for me. He made me on purpose with purpose. He has called me beautiful, wonderfully made, a joint heir with Christ, adopted into the family, born again, a new creation, man. Now that is my identity and friend, that is your identity too.
[00:10:34] Carla: I want you to affirm this with me today. Only God can define me. My identity is in Christ alone. And we go to second Corinthians five 17 here, where it says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come while you may have been done to [00:11:00] sin before you are now alive in Christ, where you may have been a slave before you are now set free by the blood of the lamb, where you may have been locked in shame.
[00:11:13] Carla: You now have forgiveness and restoration and redemption. That is who you are. And you have been given all authority in the name of Jesus. You have authority in the name of Jesus. You don't have to shrink to your illness. You don't have to hide in your shame. You don't have to be a victim to your trauma.
[00:11:43] Carla: No, you are victorious in Christ Jesus. You are an overcomer in Christ Jesus. You are more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. Go claim your identity in Christ. Walk in the plans and purposes he has. [00:12:00] Only God can define you. It's time to root your identity in Christ alone. I'll talk to you later, friends.
[00:12:17] Carla: Thanks for joining me today. I hope we're already friends on social media. But if we're not, come find me on Instagram at carlaarges or at Affirming Truth. Can't wait to see you back here next week. Bye, friends.