Just this morning, I finished savoring Mark Maulding’s book, God’s Best-Kept Secret: Christianity Is Easier Than You Think.
I can honestly say this book is hands down one of the best books I’ve ever read.
Most of the time when I finish a book, it gets put on one of my library shelves.
Not this one.
It’s going to remain within arm’s reach of my little brown chair in my library sanctuary—the place where I spend most of my time reading, writing, and enjoying Jesus.
God’s Best-Kept Secret is Mark’s warm counselor’s heart in a book.
A heart filled with compassion for hurting Christians who are unable to make the Christian life work.
A heart that longs to share God’s best-kept secret with struggling believers who are in the ideal position to give up their self-efforts and to begin resting in and living from the luxuriant life of Christ within.
And now, without further ado, here is Mark’s guest post, “You’re Already a Godly Person.” I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Understanding and embracing your identity in Christ, can transform your life.
A pastor friend of mine tells his congregation often, “Do you want to know how I grow spiritually?
I spend a lot of time thinking about who I am in Christ.”
That is my secret to spiritual growth.
For many years, because I had a skewed understanding of who God really is and who I am in Christ, I strove very hard to become a godly man.
My erroneous belief was that if I could get better and better at the spiritual disciplines, make more and more wise decisions, and live a holy life, I would one day become that godly man.
That was one of the reasons I felt so stressed out and anxious about the Christian life.
It was a lot of hard work and even after years of hard work on it, I still felt like a failure.
After God began to show me the truth about him and me, I experienced more and more peace in my life, especially from letting my behavior define my identity.
But there was still this nagging voice which whispered to me occasionally that I needed to become a godly man.
It was like a mosquito that just will not leave you alone.
One day I was alone in my car headed to work and I was thinking again about becoming a godly man, as I had for many years.
It was in that moment that God whispered to me a wonderful truth that set me free from this bondage.
“Mark, you’re already a godly man.”
When he said that, it was as if the car suddenly got brighter because I saw immediately what Jesus was saying to me.
He wanted me to know that I had been a godly man since the day I was saved at age 9.
I could stop trying to be a godly man because in my identity in Christ I already was one.
To be quite honest, it was a great relief.
I felt like I could relax before God.
The striving was over.
In my counseling and teaching through the years, I’ve discovered that is where many Christians are.
They don’t know they are already godly, holy, righteous, loving, patient and so much more in Christ.
So they strive to become that person when they already are that person.
That’s clear evidence of living with a false identity.
Are you ready to let go of your false identity based on your behavior, feelings, and the opinions of others and embrace your true identity in Christ?
Why don’t you start right now?
Here is a suggested prayer.
Father, I have spent all of my life searching for my stolen identity. As a result, I have developed a false identity which has controlled my life. I now give up my false identity and choose today to embrace my true identity in Christ by faith. Please make this more and more real in my life as I agree more and more with your opinion of me. In Jesus name, Amen.
Are you discouraged by feeling distant from God no matter how much you try to grow closer to him?
Reclaim the life God intended for you with God’s Best-Kept Secret!
Learn more + get freebies and a sample chapter: godsbestkeptsecret.com
Mark Maulding is founder of Grace Life International, one of the largest Christian counseling and teaching ministries in America. A speaker, counselor, and leadership coach, Maulding is a regular blogger who is passionate about sharing the transforming message of God’s grace with a world in desperate need of it. He and his wife, Ellen, have four adult children, including a daughter with Down syndrome who, along with her three brothers, recently finished college. They live near Charlotte, North Carolina. You can connect with Mark on Facebook or his blog.
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