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Embracing Your Identity in Christ: Renouncing Lies and Foolish Strategies
Although there is nothing sweeter than the Gospel, there is much more sweetness to be enjoyed. Few Christians seem to experience the transformation they hoped for, and often burn out too early. This is because we cannot escape the interpretation war each day over our identity. What if we are ruled by a lie more than the truth about who we are? What if condemnation has been their primary motivation, and has functioned for us more than grace, for too many years? What if, on the front end, we already have what we try so hard to obtain? Dr. Bob Smart walks us through the practical steps to embrace our true identity in Christ by helping us embrace our glory, gender, story, acceptance, sonship, and more by renouncing lies, condemning thoughts, and foolish strategies.
- GenresChristian
108 pages, Paperback
Published March 14, 2017
5 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Robert Davis Smart
13 books5 followersRobert Davis Smart is senior minister of Christ Church in Bloomington, Illinois. He teaches part-time at different seminaries, preaches at conferences, and stays active in world missions. He and his wife, Karen, enjoy their five children and three grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 2, 2019
Especially enjoyed the end of the book on burnout in ministry. Understanding our vulnerabilities gives us ammunition to overcome the attacks to our identities.
May 2, 2025
Grab tissues, a journal, highlighters, and be prepared to be empowered by convicting and freeing Truths from
Scripture.
Well written, humbling, and honest. Thankful for the stories and hope conveyed within these pages. But even more so, for the stories and hope pointing to Jesus and the Scriptures to sit before Him, become still and soak in His voice ♥️
Scripture.
Well written, humbling, and honest. Thankful for the stories and hope conveyed within these pages. But even more so, for the stories and hope pointing to Jesus and the Scriptures to sit before Him, become still and soak in His voice ♥️
March 7, 2018
For many years, the author has been teaching his Identity in Christ course to groups in many places. Now, this helpful material is in book form, with this being the first book in the four-book series.
The author states that the first season of spiritual formation for the Christian, identity in Christ, is the first of four seasons of gospel transformation designed to shape us into the glorious likeness of Jesus Christ. He tells us that embracing our true identity in Christ has much more weight than we may give it at this time. It is foundational as a teenager, formational during our twenties and thirties, and progressively solidifying for all Christians until we come to cross the river of death.
In this book he teaches us to identify our Central Condemning Thought (CCT) or Core Lie. He writes that we actually cherish our core lie, because it has often functioned for a long time to give us a sense of success, but never enough. But, we eventually find ourselves surrendering to an identity of condemnation in the end. He tells us that by taking our condemning thoughts about ourselves and foolish strategies captive, and by believing the gospel each day, we are able to enjoy the stable, full, and solid Christian life Jesus promised us. A stronger sense of our Christian identity will set us up for living intentionally for Christ in midlife and pass on to others a legacy from Christ in old age.
He begins by stating that the central question of first importance for beginning a vital, lifelong, gospel-transformational process is the question of authority. Who have you given the authority to tell you just who you are? He writes that it is only God (the Gospel) that has the authority to answer the most important question of life—namely, “Who am I?” But we may ask, who is it that we have given the authority to tell us our identity? You have an identity given to you by God. God gave you a story with a plot, an evil enemy, and a happy consummation to envision. To know your story is to know how God has shaped you into a new creation in Christ with a past, a present, and a future.
The author writes about the importance of your name and ethnicity, and states that as you own your story, names, ethnicity, culture, and heritage, you will be increasingly ready to hear and believe the gospel.
Although the concept of gender being flexible is an issue currently in the news, the author writes that the uniqueness of our being male or female reaches to the core of our identities when God genders each of us at conception. He tells us that embracing our true identity according to gender, then, requires an understanding of all three aspects of glory, fall, and redemption.
A man embraces the glory of his identity when he exercises a tender strength to provide and protect, to remember and delight over, and to move toward creation and people in sacrificial love for God’s glory. A woman’s glory is her powerful ability to help others.
He writes that there is a real battle that rages in the heart of every Christian. It is an interpretation war about his or her identity. Just as Satan attacked Jesus’s identity first, so evil seeks to attack who we are before harassing what we do. He tells us that an identity built on a condemning thought can rule a Christian for many years, instead of the gospel.
He tells us that we tend to base our sense of our identities upon our Christian performance, rather than resting on the performance of another—namely, Jesus Christ’s perfect thirty-three-year life of righteousness. Once we can identify a core lie, basic fear, or CCT, then we are in a position to identify the foolish strategies we have come up with to overcome the lie. Attempting to obtain an identity we already have in Christ on the front end is surely foolish. Thus, they are foolish strategies. He tells us that we will never renounce a central condemning thought about our identities until we see how it has functioned for us to get what we wanted from others, which to some degree functioned for us to make us feel better about ourselves. He encourages us to repent of those foolish strategies that never worked and were only attempts to save our reputation, except to make us ultimately feel defeated, worn out, and vulnerable to bad habits. Then, preach the gospel to yourself and trust it is true.
He helpfully discusses the theological topics of justification (giving us a helpful “Justification Prayer” to memorize), adoption and sanctification.
The book can be read individually or as part of a group. A leader’s guide and group discussion questions are provided at the end of each chapter. If reading with a group, when you have completed the book, you are encouraged to share your identity with others.
The book includes three appendices:
• Appendix 1 Cherishing Lies about Our Identities as Ministry Leaders
• Appendix 2 Self-Hatred
• Appendix 3 Justification
I highly recommend the authors’ entire four-book series on spiritual formation, and that you begin with this book.
The author states that the first season of spiritual formation for the Christian, identity in Christ, is the first of four seasons of gospel transformation designed to shape us into the glorious likeness of Jesus Christ. He tells us that embracing our true identity in Christ has much more weight than we may give it at this time. It is foundational as a teenager, formational during our twenties and thirties, and progressively solidifying for all Christians until we come to cross the river of death.
In this book he teaches us to identify our Central Condemning Thought (CCT) or Core Lie. He writes that we actually cherish our core lie, because it has often functioned for a long time to give us a sense of success, but never enough. But, we eventually find ourselves surrendering to an identity of condemnation in the end. He tells us that by taking our condemning thoughts about ourselves and foolish strategies captive, and by believing the gospel each day, we are able to enjoy the stable, full, and solid Christian life Jesus promised us. A stronger sense of our Christian identity will set us up for living intentionally for Christ in midlife and pass on to others a legacy from Christ in old age.
He begins by stating that the central question of first importance for beginning a vital, lifelong, gospel-transformational process is the question of authority. Who have you given the authority to tell you just who you are? He writes that it is only God (the Gospel) that has the authority to answer the most important question of life—namely, “Who am I?” But we may ask, who is it that we have given the authority to tell us our identity? You have an identity given to you by God. God gave you a story with a plot, an evil enemy, and a happy consummation to envision. To know your story is to know how God has shaped you into a new creation in Christ with a past, a present, and a future.
The author writes about the importance of your name and ethnicity, and states that as you own your story, names, ethnicity, culture, and heritage, you will be increasingly ready to hear and believe the gospel.
Although the concept of gender being flexible is an issue currently in the news, the author writes that the uniqueness of our being male or female reaches to the core of our identities when God genders each of us at conception. He tells us that embracing our true identity according to gender, then, requires an understanding of all three aspects of glory, fall, and redemption.
A man embraces the glory of his identity when he exercises a tender strength to provide and protect, to remember and delight over, and to move toward creation and people in sacrificial love for God’s glory. A woman’s glory is her powerful ability to help others.
He writes that there is a real battle that rages in the heart of every Christian. It is an interpretation war about his or her identity. Just as Satan attacked Jesus’s identity first, so evil seeks to attack who we are before harassing what we do. He tells us that an identity built on a condemning thought can rule a Christian for many years, instead of the gospel.
He tells us that we tend to base our sense of our identities upon our Christian performance, rather than resting on the performance of another—namely, Jesus Christ’s perfect thirty-three-year life of righteousness. Once we can identify a core lie, basic fear, or CCT, then we are in a position to identify the foolish strategies we have come up with to overcome the lie. Attempting to obtain an identity we already have in Christ on the front end is surely foolish. Thus, they are foolish strategies. He tells us that we will never renounce a central condemning thought about our identities until we see how it has functioned for us to get what we wanted from others, which to some degree functioned for us to make us feel better about ourselves. He encourages us to repent of those foolish strategies that never worked and were only attempts to save our reputation, except to make us ultimately feel defeated, worn out, and vulnerable to bad habits. Then, preach the gospel to yourself and trust it is true.
He helpfully discusses the theological topics of justification (giving us a helpful “Justification Prayer” to memorize), adoption and sanctification.
The book can be read individually or as part of a group. A leader’s guide and group discussion questions are provided at the end of each chapter. If reading with a group, when you have completed the book, you are encouraged to share your identity with others.
The book includes three appendices:
• Appendix 1 Cherishing Lies about Our Identities as Ministry Leaders
• Appendix 2 Self-Hatred
• Appendix 3 Justification
I highly recommend the authors’ entire four-book series on spiritual formation, and that you begin with this book.
July 9, 2021
Short, practical and powerful. A few great topics covered:
- How does the gospel shape my identity and speak to the lies that Satan has woven into my life?
- How have I come to embrace those lies and used them as a means to meet my own selfish ends?
- What do the truths of justification, sanctification, adoption, and glorification mean for the lies about myself that I’ve come to embrace?
- How does the gospel shape my identity and speak to the lies that Satan has woven into my life?
- How have I come to embrace those lies and used them as a means to meet my own selfish ends?
- What do the truths of justification, sanctification, adoption, and glorification mean for the lies about myself that I’ve come to embrace?
November 25, 2025
I’ve really enjoyed reading and discussing this book with a group of friends over the past few months. Overall I think the content was good, supported by scripture, and easy to understand, although I thought the chapter on gender was brief and could have been expanded on. I’m interested to see how I go with the practical application of the ideas discussed, reminding myself of gospel truths.
March 5, 2025
God has used this book, and Bob’s teaching, to bring revival to my soul.
July 20, 2023
get wrecked
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews