A Word from Bob: Welcome to Part 7 of my blog mini-series on The Gospel Where You Live: God’s Prescription for Victory In Anxiety. I’m taking these thoughts from my booklet, 
Anxiety: Anatomy and Cure. You can read:
- Part 1 at God’s Prescription for Victory In Anxiety
- Part 2 at Anxiety: Stuck Vigilance
- Part 3 at Anxiety: What Difference Does the Cross Make?
- Part 4 at Facing Anxiety Face-to-Face with Christ
- Part 5 at 5 Gospel-Centered Responses to Anxiety, Fear, & Worry
- Part 6 at It Takes a Congregation
Cling to Your Identity in Christ
In Philippians, Paul models how to guard our relationship to God and how to develop mature relationships with God’s people. There’s an additional relational component in Paul’s comprehensive approach to victory in anxiety—how we view ourselves, how we see ourselves in Christ.
Understand Who You Are in and to Christ
Sometimes Christians assume that we should never think of ourselves. That is not what Paul teaches in Romans or Philippians. In Romans 12:3, he tells us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but rather with sober judgment according to the measure of faith God has given each of us.
Paul is teaching us to ground our sense of self in our identity in Christ—who we are in and to Christ. Paul does not highlight self-image or self-esteem; he emphasizes our Christ-image and Christ-esteem.
Two questions are central as we fight against anxiety:
- Who is God?
- What is my identity in Christ?
The first question has to do with my image of God; the second question with my image of self. Both are relational questions and both are best answered in the context of our relationships within the Body of Christ. I need you to help me to have spiritual eyes to see Who God is and who I am in Christ (see Ephesians 3:18-19).
Paul serves in this role by reminding the Philippians to be confident that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:6). He wants them to know that in Christ they are pure and blameless, filled with the fruit of righteousness (Philippians 1:10-11). He models rejecting confidence in self in the flesh (Philippians. 3:1-7) and clinging to confidence and competence in Christ through the Spirit (Philippians l. 3:8-15).
We’ll never experience wholeness in self. However, in Christ we are promised wholeness, integration, harmony, and fullness. Paul calls it peace (Philippians. 4:7)—a settled rest and confident assurance.
Stir Up the Gift of God Within You
When anxiety attacks, our temptation is to focus on self and to succumb to Satan’s condemning lies. My parishioner and counselees who struggle with anxiety have shared the lies they believe about themselves.
- “I’m constantly turned in upon myself and tuned in only to myself.”
- “I’m consistently reflecting on myself and overly concerned with my life in a way that feels self-centered, obsessive, out of control, and abnormal.”
- “I feel like something bad is going to happen that I can’t control or handle—because I’m too weak.”
- “I can’t seem to stop preparing for the worst and imagining the worst about myself.”
- “My anxiety is like the old Lost in Space show with the Robot always screaming, ‘Danger! Danger! Will Robinson!’ I see myself as a coward hovering in the corner.”
- “I feel like the cowardly lion, afraid of his own shadow, and like all the Oz characters are chanting, ‘Lions, and Tigers, and Bears! Oh my!’”
- “I don’t fight; I flee because I view the danger as bigger than my resources.”
- “I’m David against Goliath, but I don’t see God in the scene.”
- “Life is too hard for me. This situation is too big for me. I’m a child in an adult world.”
Paul wants the Philippians to do what he exhorted Timothy to do: reject Satan’s lies about you and stir up the truth about your identity in Christ. “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:6-7).
He reminds the Philippians that they can do everything through Him who gives them strength (Philippians 4:13). He reminds them that “God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
Mike read all of Philippians and collated every verse that addresses our identity in Christ. He shared the change that began to take place.
“I’m not believing Satan’s condemning lies about me anymore. I used to imaging myself as a kid cowering in the corner. Now I see myself as Christ’s spiritual athlete, as a saint, as an adult son of God, as a soldier contending for the faith, as an equipped servant. My confidence is not in me, but I am competent in Christ.”
The Rest of the Story
Join me for Part 8 when we talk about Putting on the Mind of Christ: The Weapons of Our Warfare.
Applying the Gospel to Daily Life
- Identify the condemning, shaming lies that Satan is telling you and replace them with God’s truth. Ask yourself, “What truths about my identity in Christ can I cling to as I stir up the gift of God that is within me?”
Tweet It
Wholeness in Christ When You’re Falling Apart: http://bit.ly/Gospel4Anx7
Paul does not highlight self-image or self-esteem; he emphasizes our Christ-image and Christ-esteem. http://bit.ly/Gospel4Anx7
Two questions are central as we fight against anxiety: Who is God? What is my identity in Christ? http://bit.ly/Gospel4Anx7
What truths about my identity in Christ can I cling to as I stir up the gift of God that is within me? http://bit.ly/Gospel4Anx7
