The False Identity Sin Creates
Day 3 — The False Identity Sin Creates
Read
1 Kings 11:1–4
King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women 2 from the nations that the Lord had told the Israelites about, “Do not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn you away from Me to their gods.” Solomon was deeply attached to these women and loved them. 3 He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines, and they turned his heart away from the Lord.
4 When Solomon was old, his wives seduced him to follow other gods. He was not completely devoted to Yahweh his God, as his father David had been.
Romans 6:20–21
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from allegiance to righteousness. So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death.
Reflect
Over the past two days, we've examined how self-deception baits us into believing we're in control, while sin slowly begins to enslave us. We've also looked at the life of Solomon, a man who had tremendous knowledge of God's Word, wisdom, and provision, yet still allowed sinful desires to lead him away from following God.
Solomon's story reminds us that knowledge of God's truth alone won't protect us from self-deception or sin. We must trust Christ, submit to His Word, and actually follow where He leads.
But there's another danger we need to recognize. As we continue compromising God's truth to satisfy our sinful desires, sin begins influencing more than our behavior. It begins distorting how we see ourselves, what we believe we need, and who we think we are.
Self-deception produces compromise. Compromise produces sin. And sin traps us in the deception of a warped, distorted, or false identity.
Consider Solomon's life again. In 1 Kings 11, we're told that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines, and that his wives turned his heart away from the Lord. The man God had given extraordinary wisdom to lead His people, build His temple, and share His wisdom with other kingdoms was now following other gods.
Solomon didn't wake up one day with 700 wives and 300 concubines. His disobedience developed over time through compromises that slowly distanced him from God's truth and the path of righteousness God had called him to walk.
And that's what makes spiritual compromise so dangerous. It often begins with decisions that seem small or insignificant. We tell ourselves, "It's not that big a deal," "Just this once," or "There's no harm in it." But each compromise makes it easier to justify the next one, and eventually we can find ourselves living in ways that are completely contrary to what we know God's Word teaches.
Spiritual compromise happens when we weaken, dilute, or surrender our commitment to God's Word and will to avoid conflict, fit in with the world, or satisfy our sinful desires.
And as we continue compromising God's truth, we can begin believing that the sinful behaviors we've chosen are somehow essential to who we are.
We convince ourselves that we cannot be ourselves without them. We cannot survive without them. We cannot perform without them. We will not be accepted without them.
Believing the lies of self-deception and sin produces the fruit of spiritual compromise and identity confusion.
Think about how easily this can happen in our everyday lives. We may begin pursuing something because we believe it will make us successful, appreciated, accepted, or fulfilled. But over time, that pursuit can become so important that we begin measuring our value and identity by it.
And rather than recognizing how our desires are leading us away from God, we convince ourselves that what we're doing is necessary.
I can remember a season early in my marriage and as I began my career in ministry when I felt a need to prove myself. I wanted to accomplish things, and often I wanted those accomplishments to bring praise and encouragement from others. There was a part of me that wanted people to look at what I was doing and be impressed by me.
The more I took on, the more overwhelmed I became. But rather than acknowledging what was happening, I deceived myself and others into believing I could handle it all.
I convinced myself that it wasn't affecting me emotionally, spiritually, or physically. I convinced myself that my relationships weren't suffering and that everything I was doing was important enough to justify the sacrifices I was making.
But it was all a guise.
Under the surface, I was experiencing exhaustion, chaos, turmoil, and fear. And the more I continued pursuing accomplishments and approval, the more those things began influencing my thoughts, decisions, and priorities.
I had convinced myself that I needed to perform, accomplish, and prove myself. What began as a desire for encouragement and approval was becoming something I believed I needed in order to feel successful and accepted.
But I wasn't the only one affected.
The more responsibilities I took on, the less I had to give or be present at home. I had convinced myself that what I was doing and accomplishing was too important to set aside. And because of that, my wife and children were being negatively affected by my lack of emotional, spiritual, and physical presence.
I was deceiving myself into believing that I could continue pursuing everything I wanted without it costing me or the people I loved.
But the consequences were already taking place.
Sin's deception becomes our false identity and slowly begins to leave a wake of destruction.
And this is something we need to recognize about the consequences of our sin. They don't always affect only us.
When we allow self-deception and sin to guide our thoughts, actions, and priorities, they can create turmoil and chaos for the very people God has entrusted us to lead, love, and care for.
Sometimes we're aware of the damage our choices are causing. Other times, we're blind to it. The consequences may be developing behind the scenes, or they may not become evident until much later.
But that doesn't mean the damage isn't happening.
Consider how this can show up through prideful pursuits of performance and accomplishments. We become consumed with proving ourselves, achieving more, and receiving recognition from others. And while we may convince ourselves that we're simply working hard or being responsible, our pursuit of success can begin costing us the relationships and responsibilities God has entrusted to us.
Or consider our desire to be socially accepted, liked, and appreciated. We may begin compromising our convictions because we don't want to disappoint others, create conflict, or risk being rejected. Eventually, the approval of others becomes more important than obedience to God.
And the same can happen through our pursuit of pleasure, excitement, and thrills, both sexual and nonsexual. We convince ourselves that these experiences are necessary for our happiness or fulfillment, even when they lead us into sinful behaviors and away from God's Word.
In each of these situations, self-deception convinces us that our desires are necessary to our identity.
We begin allowing our pursuits, accomplishments, relationships, or sinful behaviors to determine how we see ourselves.
But our identity was never meant to be established by those things.
For those who belong to Jesus, our identity is found in Christ.
And when we allow sin to deceive us into believing that our sinful desires define who we are, we begin living according to a false identity rather than the identity we have in Him.
Paul challenges believers in Romans 6 to consider the fruit their former slavery to sin produced. He asks them to look back at the things they were now ashamed of and recognize where those choices ultimately led.
That's an important question for us as well.
What fruit is being produced by the things we're pursuing? What are our desires, ambitions, and sinful behaviors producing in our lives and relationships?
Are they leading us toward the rest, calm, and peace of our Good Shepherd? Or are they producing exhaustion, turmoil, and chaos?
And perhaps even more importantly, what are they producing in the lives of those we're responsible for leading and caring for?
Sometimes we're so focused on what we believe we need that we fail to recognize what our choices are costing the people around us.
We may convince ourselves that we're doing something good, necessary, or important. But if our pursuit is leading us away from God's truth, compromising our obedience, and causing us to neglect those He's entrusted to us, we need to recognize the deception.
Sin doesn't simply attempt to control what we do. It attempts to distort who we believe we are.
And the longer we continue believing that false identity, the further we can wander from the purpose God has established for our lives.
Solomon had wisdom, wealth, influence, and opportunities that few people would ever experience. Yet those things didn't prevent him from compromising God's truth and following sinful desires.
And just like Solomon, we can know what God has called us to do and still allow self-deception to lead us in another direction.
That's why we must continually examine not only what we're doing, but why we're doing it and what it's producing.
Because the fruit of our choices will eventually reveal the direction we've been following.
And if that direction is leading us away from our Good Shepherd, we need to recognize the trap before we allow it to take us any further.
Respond
- Have you allowed accomplishments, approval, acceptance, pleasure, or another sinful pursuit to become so important that it has begun shaping your identity and influencing your obedience to God?
- How might your pursuit of those things be affecting your relationship with God and the people He's entrusted you to love and care for?
Today's Challenge: Identify one pursuit or behavior that may be creating a false identity in your life. Consider what it's costing you and those around you.
Pray
Ask God to reveal where self-deception and sin have distorted how you see yourself and what you believe you need. Pray for the humility to recognize the consequences of your choices and the willingness to find your identity in Christ rather than in sinful desires, accomplishments, or the approval of others.