Last Thursday we continued our Three Chairs series by focusing in on Identity, or self-worth. I suggested that how you see yourself will determine almost everything that you do. Your confidence, worth, value, etc. is completely wrapped up in your identity.
The “three chairs” idea offers us different perspectives into how we view identity.
Those sitting in the first chair, the chair of benefit, understand that God loves them, but it doesn’t shape who they are. Instead, these people are more consumed with how others view them than with how God sees them. As a result, they are constantly chasing after the affirmation of other people. Often this is played out by these people being chameleons of sort. At work, they are one person. At home, another. At church, someone completely different. They shape their identity around whatever group they are with, hoping that those people will love and accept them. It is a vicious circle of never being good enough.
People in the second chair, the chair of contribute, also understand that God loves them, but it’s not enough. For these people, how they see themselves outweighs everything else in life. And so, the person they see in the mirror cripples them from every accomplishing great things for God. They are weighed down by their past mistakes, wishing that they could forgive themselves they way God has forgiven them. People in this chair often get caught up with self-help books, believing that the power to change is found inside of us rather than in God. Like those in the first chair, people sitting here battle constantly with never been good enough.
Third Chair believers recognize that God does indeed love them, and that love translates into a transformation into the kind of person God has designed them to be. These people pursue life with a passion to please God in every way. As a result, they are less concerned with how others perceive them, or even how they view themselves, than they are with how God sees them. And God sees them as his beautiful children. It is amazing what you can accomplish when you realize that God loves and accepts you because of who you are and not for what you do (or don’t do). There is freedom that is found in that realization.
Anyway, for those who might be interested, you can watch the video below.
