Mistaken Identity

You Are More Than Your Past Mistakes

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done? Are you an adulterer? A cheater? A liar? A theif? A murderer? A quitter? A failure? All of the above? We all have regrets and mistakes from our past that elicit feelings of shame or sadness when we recall them.

Maybe you think that past sin will keep you from being accepted into God’s family. I know that is what I used to think. I wasted so much time avoiding God and church because of a false belief that I held on to. That belief was that I was less than and wouldn’t be accepted by “church people” who I thought had, surely, not done the things that I had done.

My identity was scarred and broken. My past was keeping me bound to negative thinking and stuck in a rut believing I could never change.

When I read the story about a Canaanite prostitute named Rahab in the book of Joshua, I feel such a kinship with a woman who must have felt much the same way. She was an outsider, a Canaanite woman with a past and a questionable reputation, but God chose to use her in a big way despite her sullied identity.

When two Israelite spies entered the city of Jericho, they met Rahab and quickly found out that she was so much more than she seemed. She had heard about the God of the Israelites and she exhibited great faith by protecting the men in exchange for their promise to save her and her family when they returned to overtake the city.

They did return and in Joshua 6:25 it says, “But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho – and she lived among the Israelites to this day.”

Did you catch that last phrase? “and she lived among the Israelites to this day.” When Rahab placed her faith in God, He didn’t just save her and her family from the destruction of her city and send her on her way; she was accepted and given a new identity among a new people. She placed her faith in the one true God. Her faith was tested, and she was obedient. Her obedience was rewarded by acceptance into a new family.

This is what God does for us too. When we repent and place our faith in Him, He no longer sees who we were, He sees who we are, and we are accepted into His family. Our identity is much more than the worst thing we’ve ever done. It is found in the finished work of Jesus. His death on that cross covers all of our sins, even the ones we think unforgivable. My past sin isn’t who I am, it’s what I was delivered from when I gave my heart to Jesus.

If you are still carrying the weight of shame and guilt from past mistakes and failures in your life, lay those burdens down at the foot of the cross, repent of your sin and let the Lord show you your true identity. You are so much more than the any mistake you have made.

Reflection

What negative labels have you given yourself because of past mistakes or struggles
What is one step you can take today to begin to shed the shame from past sin that you feel have been holding you back?
How can surrendering those past mistakes to God help you discover your true identity?

Goals

Find three scriptures that remind you of who God says you are. Keep these somewhere you can see regularly as a reminder that we are accepted into God’s family when we turn to Him in faith.

But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho – and she lived among the Israelites to this day. (Joshua 6:25 NIV)

Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, (Matthew 1:5 NIV)

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace (Ephesians 1:7 NIV)