Discover Your True Self - You are Valuable, Part 2

Did you know there is a universal lie, a formula that most of us believe, that destines us to forever search for significance, but never find it?

It goes like this, other people's opinion plus my performance equals my value. Today, we'll learn how to defeat that lie. Stay with me. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Living on the Edge is an international discipleship ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram. I'm Dave Druey, and in this program, Chip continues his series Discover Your True Self by giving us a super simple tool to bring about true life change. You know, we get so wrapped up in so many misconceptions about ourselves, about others, about God, about the way life works. It's tough to break free of those false impressions.

Well, we're about to learn how it's possible. Just before we get started, let me encourage you to try using Chip's message notes while you listen. They're full of scripture references and Chip's detailed outline of this message. They're a quick download when you go to livingontheedge.org and click Listen Now.

App listeners just tap Fill in Notes. Well, we're in Ephesians Chapter 1, so if you have a Bible, turn there now, and let's join Chip for part two of his message, You Are Valuable. Third, you're redeemed.

Big word. It means you've been purchased out of the slave market of sin by Jesus. And underline this, you are infinitely precious and treasured possession. Is that the opposite of you only matter if you can look good, or you only matter if you can do this or do that? It's the opposite of your performance. There's one person's opinion.

Your Heavenly Father, you are infinitely valuable, and you are precious. Do you believe that? Do you really believe that? Do you believe it to the point where you can say, you know, I love people's approval, and I know this was my folks' dream for my life, and I know everyone at work feels like unless they do this and do that and until they live in this neighborhood and get this zip code and unless their kids go to this school and that school and unless this and that, unless my two-year-old is a star on the soccer team, I understand everyone thinks that way. I don't need their approval.

It would be nice, but I'm the precious treasure of my Heavenly Father, so my priorities and my family and my future isn't dependent on what my parents think or thought or what anyone else does or what anyone ever says is cool or in or right or wonderful. I'm human. It would be nice, but the Bible says in Him, Christ, you have been redeemed. How? Through His blood. What is redemption? The forgiveness of our trespasses.

Literally the word is when you know it's right and you cross a line according to the richness of His grace which He lavished upon us. This is a very interesting passage especially for the Apostle Paul. If you lived in the first century and you heard this letter read, you would immediately hear the word redemption and your mind would go, oh, that's the exact same word that when you would go into the streets, into a marketplace. It's called the agora and the agora is a marketplace where they would sell and you could go there and there would be a little platform and there would be men and women and there would be slaves and you could buy them. That's where you went to buy a slave and you could buy a man or you could buy a woman. You want to buy a servant. You want to buy a whole family and they would cost so much money and the money you would pay to redeem the slave is this word.

You ransom them and he says, are you ready? You and I and every single person in the human race has been in the slave market of sin. You know what's right to do and you don't do it.

You know some things you ought to do, want to do, find yourself not doing it. You can make up rules and you can even keep your own rules, let alone God's. We have fallen short of being perfect. We are slaves to sin and Christ came and when He died upon the cross, He atoned literally, He ransomed, He paid for it. The purchase price of your salvation and freedom was the death of the perfect son of God. Now I've got a little illustration because you're not quite, the emotional impact of this, you guys are not getting it. I know it's theology but if you understood theology is what really creates right thinking and right thinking is what changes emotions and right emotions is what motivates right behavior and right behavior is what produces great consequences and great consequences are the things that totally transforms your life.

So let's get back to the theology. Okay, ready? There's an imaginary box. I'm going to put it right up here as though I was an illusionist. It's floating.

Have you got it? On the top, are you ready? It says box number one. Keep your eyes there. Over here, box number two.

They're exactly the same size. On the front of this box, the cost of this box says one thousand dollars. You got it visualized in your mind?

It's floating right over there. It's white by the way for some of you that are color blind. Over here, box number two is white and it costs one million dollars. Now for those over fifty that still remember, let's make a deal. If I was asking you, do you want box number one, you don't know what's in it but it costs a thousand dollars hovering over here or would you like box number two hovering and it's worth a million dollars. If you want box number one, raise your hand. Okay, how many want box number two? Raise your hand. Oh my gosh, you're geniuses.

You're amazing. The whole room wants box number two. Why?

Why? If it costs more, it's worth more. We always judge the value of things by how much it costs.

If your fiance gives you a ring that costs thirty dollars instead of three thousand, it says something about your fiance. Now let's move our theology to our emotions. What are you worth to God? You and I cost God the precious blood of his son. You are of infinite worth. I don't care what anyone has ever said about you. I don't care what problems, what emotions, what struggles, what pain, what lies. You today are worth the blood of Christ.

A perfect life leaving heaven, killed for only loving people and have never sinned because that's how much you matter. You start believing that you are chosen and adopted and redeemed. You will begin to get the message the real you is free and valuable. That's who you are. Now you can say, well you don't really understand shit because I had a very difficult childhood and then I went through this and then there was a drunk driver and you know what? I'm not telling you that life isn't hard and there's sin and people haven't done you wrong.

I'm just saying you can either believe all of that defines you or you can believe what God has said about you. Now there's not a button you can click. I wish there was.

I would have clicked it long ago. It's a journey. It's a process.

It's replenishing. It's identifying the lies, calling them lies, identifying the truth and replacing the lies with the truth and as you do that, as you do that, it'll go from your head to your heart, from your heart to your mind, your emotions. You'll change what matters.

You won't need people's approval. But it gets even better. It's not just that you're redeemed. He says you were redeemed for a purpose. There's a lot of people that wonder why am I here? What's life all about? I mean for some of you that have been really really successful, it's like there's got to be more to than so many patents and so much money and having a second house.

And for others, it's like hey I've tried this and I've tried that and there's got to be more than what I'm getting because I feel like a failure. Why am I really here? He explains. Notice what he says.

In all wisdom and insight, he made known to us the mystery of his will. By the way, that's the truth. All the words underneath that are clauses that define what he just said and I'll walk through those.

Here's what you know. Okay remember when we diagrammed sentence in ninth grade? He, subject, redeemed, verb, you.

Now here's what he says. He, God, made known the mystery of his will. And the word mystery, circle it. It just means secret.

It's not mysterious. What it means is that up until this point, there was a part of his will that no one knew about and he's now made this secret known to you. He made known the mystery of his will to you. Now let's define what his will is and what he says. How? According to the kind intention which he purposed in Christ.

So whatever this will is that has to do with you, it was God's kind intention in bringing Jesus to earth and saving us. Okay, well then, what's after that? With a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of time. I know what you're thinking. What in the world does that mean?

Put a box around the word administration. It's an interesting Greek word that literally means a household economy. Oikeo, house, namas, law. In other words, when your children were like three years old, they had a bedtime and so you had laws of the house. They go to bed like six, thirty or seven.

When they're teenagers, who knows when they go to bed. Okay, but it's not the same. And what he's saying is, in the progress of revelation, as God is revealing himself, the purpose is God revealed this mystery or this secret. It's all about why Jesus came and what he wants to do and in his household economy, notice it's in the fullness of time.

Not Kronos time, but Kairos, this unique opportunity of all of life and what is it? It's the summing up of all things in Christ, things in heaven and things in earth. So he redeemed you, made you adopted as a part of his family. Jesus came to create this brand new thing that no one knew about and it's called the church. As you keep reading this book, Gentile and Jew become the new agent of blessing in this thing called the church. Old covenant was Israel, was the agent of blessing.

New covenant, the church. So he redeemed you for a purpose that everything Jesus came to do in his physical body, you are now his spiritual body. He fed the poor. He told people who the father was. He showed them who the father was. He loved extravagantly. He was generous with his time and his money.

He demonstrated the salt of the earth and the light of God and so you have been called, your purpose is to take the mission for which you've been redeemed and this isn't just about you and your life and your happiness and your satisfaction so that you would actually become an agent of light and salt and love and so until the moment you cross the threshold and see Jesus, you're indispensable. I don't care what your job is. I don't care what your background is. I don't care what your color is.

I don't care what your IQ is. Jesus says, I'm putting this puzzle together and I'm redeeming whosoever will and I'm putting this puzzle together in such a way that it will become a collage of the grace of God that people would see who Jesus is, how much he loves others and that the people at your neighborhood and at your work, the people where you work out, the people where you drink coffee, the people where you wash your clothes, the relatives, they all through and in you would understand they can be redeemed if they would but believe and trust and so what it says is you are, the real you is needed and you are worthy. You're needed.

You know, it's an interesting thing. If you ever want people to stick around in a group, don't do everything for them. People come over to the house, you start a small group. Week number two, because you know what, we all struggle with am I accepted? You know what's easy to be accepted? Hey, could you bring a salad? Could you do this? Could you do that? A lot of them, they'll be going, yeah, I don't know if I'm really going to go and I didn't feel all that comfortable.

No, I got to go. Why? Because I got to take the salad. Why?

Because you know what? We feel a part of things that we're needed in. We all long to be needed. Our self-esteem and our worth comes from not just who we are but what we do but what we do in the right way.

You're worthy and your worthiness is not about your performance, it's not about what people think. Turn to the back page and let's get to how do we get this from our head to our heart. The principle is you replace your warped mirrors and misbeliefs by the truth of God's word. So you write what I put in this box on a little card and then you make a little stop sign and you read it in the morning and you read it at night.

You don't even have to memorize it. But the misbelief is I must avoid failure at all costs. I must work harder and longer to be successful and prove that I'm not a failure.

That's compulsive people like me. For others, I must avoid failure at all costs. It's better not to try than to try and fail.

If people really knew and got to know me, they would reject me. Stop! You write that and then you say stop out loud because here's what you want to do psychologically. You want to recognize the lie and you want to pair it in your brain with stop.

Then you flip the card over and you say out loud the truth. I am now a righteous person in God's sight since I've trusted Christ's redemption and sacrifice for me. I am covered by the robe of his purity and goodness. Also, since I have a new nature, I'm a good person in my general practice of life as I continue to grow in Christ. It's a long paragraph but you just read it over. You just think about it.

Wow. I'm a righteous person in God's sight. I don't have to earn his favor.

I don't have to impress anyone else. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 says God made him who had no sin to be sinned for us. You read this? So that we in him might become the righteousness of God. The moment you trust Christ there's a declaration, a legal declaration that you're righteous in his eyes and then you start, that's positional righteousness and then his Spirit living in you as you get into God's Word and the community of God's people then there's a practical righteousness where you live this out and he changes you from the inside out. Now, there's always a temptation when you teach on something like this to think, well, I used to have these issues when, you know, 20 years ago and then I read this passage and I don't have any issues but those of you that know me would know that's not true but this is one that I wrote last year. This is a lie that I believed as late as last year and I share this just so you realize this journey never ends but you keep working on it. You actually believe different lies at different seasons of your life and at different points of maturity and I went through a process reevaluating my life last year right after major surgery and I realized here's a lie that I believe. I am a prisoner of the opinions of the important influential people in my life. I agonize when my best judgment and direction from the Lord is different from theirs. Disagreeing with them will harm our relationship irreparably so I attempt to please everyone creating an unhealthy lifestyle. I bet there's a lot of people that could identify with that one and see in different seasons in your life the important people they just change and there's an important person in China and there's an important person in the Middle East and there's an important person here and there's a very important person on the front row called my wife and there's important people called my kids and all that so I'm a prisoner.

No, no, no. People love me and are for me. Here's the truth and want me to live a life of joy, rhythm, rest and fruitfulness in all areas of my life. I don't need to prove my worth through hard work or extraordinary productivity. I'm accepted, loved and greatly valued just for who I am and I've been reading this over for the better part of the year and I'm guessing there's probably some freedom I'm experiencing that has come at identifying that lie, recognizing the truth, renewing my mind.

A couple that Teresa put on her cards, these are kind of misbeliefs that are often people who withdraw. I should be upset if I make a mistake. Anybody feel like that way? You get upset, just make a mistake. Stop! The truth is as a human being, I'm not all knowing. Mistakes are not necessarily sinful. If people make fun of me, that's their problem. I need only Christ's approval and I have it apart from my works.

Another one of hers that I watched her share these with our daughter for years, misbelief. If I cannot do something well, there is little point in doing it at all. Anybody feel that way? See, it keeps you from taking risk. Stop! I'm willing to risk trying to do things without the assurance that it will be a good job. I can give my best effort and gain good experience that will help me grow.

Review. You and I are desperately searching for significance and value and importance. Behavior issues that you're working on, emotional issues that you struggle with, problem relationships and for many addictions are only symptoms. At the core and at the heart, you're still living by the formula that your value is other people's opinion and your performance. We've come here together to learn where God says this, I chose you, I adopted you, I've redeemed you. Your value is I paid for you with the blood of my son.

Chip's going to be back with his application, but just a quick reminder, this message, You Are Valuable, is from his series, Discover Your True Self. You know, at some point in our lives, most of us cut through all of the clutter to ask a very important question, Who am I? In this series, Chip opens the book of Ephesians to explain that the answer to that question changes when you become a son or daughter of the Most High God. Issues of worth and belonging take on a completely different meaning when we give our lives to his son, Jesus. But if we don't know that, we tend to get bogged down in the doubts and struggles of our past. If you long to break free and truly live in the power of Christ, this series will help you do that. To check out your free resource options for Discover Your True Self, just go to livingontheedge.org or tap Special Offers. Discounts are available for a limited time.

For more information, just give us a call at 888-333-6003. Chip, I know you've talked about this before, but so many times I'll listen to a message and think, Okay, I got it, and I'm really going to try to do better, or remember that. And that works for a little while, but then I fall back into believing the same old lies. It's so frustrating.

How do we stop that vicious cycle? Well, Dave, as a matter of fact, until we renew our mind, not just intellectually believe that God loves us, but believe deep in our heart and our convictions that we're valued, we're wanted, we're chosen, we're secure, we're beautiful, we're called with a purpose by the God of the universe, then you can listen to these things. Personally, I have had those seasons. I remember reading through the book of Ephesians and studying these great doctrines and going, Wow, this is really great. This is amazing. And two months later, falling back into my performance orientation. And so I began to write these truths on cards, and then pretty soon I began to write in my journal. And out of all that, what I realized was for me and for others, I needed to write this in such a way that I could review it and really get it from my head into my heart. And out of that came a book, and the book is called Discover Your True Self. And so the broadcast that people were hearing actually became a book. And what I find with a book that's different than hearing is I can underline a book. I put study questions inside the book. All the different little cards I talk about in terms of here's a card where the lie and then you turn the card over, those cards are in the book.

This is a book that you can do with other people. What I've learned over the years is I have to ponder, soak in, meditate, and renew my mind. And the Bible promises that if we're not conformed to this world, but if we are transformed by the renewing of our mind, then we'll discover the will of God, the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.

I just long for people to actually experience the joy and acceptance of being wanted and loved and valued, not because of how they look or what they do or how much money they have or what they've accomplished, but simply for who they are. When that ever gets from your head to your heart, it just changes everything. Thanks for that. Well, listening is a great way to learn, but we also know that some like to read and underline. So for a limited time, we've discounted Chip's book, Discover Your True Self. Besides the content, you're going to find study questions and the cards Chip and Teresa have found so helpful.

For all the details, go to livingontheedge.org, tap special offers on the app, or give us a call at 888-333-6003. As we wrap up today's program, let's do a little review before we think about the practical way to get these things from your head to your heart. Because you are in Christ, you're chosen, adopted, and we talked about that powerful word, you're redeemed. You've been bought with a price. And we learned that the message is the real you is free and valuable. Think of that.

Could you let that soak in? You are free. You're free of expectations of people. You are valuable before you do anything, accomplish anything, before how anybody thinks how you look, before how much money you make, anything. You are free and you are valuable. And because you are redeemed, you are needed and you are worthy. You are a person that matters. And I can just see some of your faces.

Believe me, I can. I've taught this live and I've looked into people's faces. And I know some of you in your heart of hearts are going, well, that sounds good for other people, but not me. I'm telling you that if you are in Christ, if you're a genuine follower of Jesus Christ, these things are true of you and God wants you to live out of them. And at the very end of the message, you know, I went through those misbeliefs, sort of Teresa's big misbelief and my misbelief. Hers was withdrawing and she was afraid to try anything because, you know, I'll fail and I don't want to look bad. And mine was trying to over-perform and over-achieve all the time to prove to people I was a someone.

Both of us were prisoners. And as we begin to read daily that misbelief and then read the truth, I want to tell you that it can move from your head to your heart. Can I encourage you to get to our website, livingontheedge.org, to download the message notes? Everything I talked about is right there. And you'll see the content of these cards and just start reading them over.

It took months before we saw progress. But I want you to know that you are a righteous person in God's sight. And since you've trusted in Christ's redemptive sacrifice, you are now covered by the robe of his purity and goodness. You have a new nature. Are you ready? You are in general practice a good person as you continue to grow in Christ. You don't have to impress anyone. You're a daughter.

You're a son of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. You'll find the message notes Chip just mentioned in a couple of places. Online, just go to livingontheedge.org and click on the broadcasts tab. App listeners will find them by tapping fill in notes. The misbelief cards Chip's talking about throughout this series, all of his scripture references and much more are there to help you get the most out of each message. Well, be sure to join us next time. And until then, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.