A guy sat on a sofa surrounded by boxes with his hands over his face

 

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Stress (1)

12 September 2019
‘“Who are you?” they demanded. Jesus replied, “The one I have always claimed to be.”’

Jesus was constantly under pressure. There were many demands on His time. He rarely had privacy, and He was constantly interrupted. People repeatedly misunderstood, criticised, and ridiculed Him. He was under enormous stress, yet He remained at peace under pressure. He based His life on eight sound principles of stress management. So over the next week we’re going to take a look at them and see what we can learn. The first is: Know who you are. ‘“Who are you?” they demanded. Jesus replied, “The one I have always claimed to be.”’ If we don’t know who we are, others might try to tell us who they think we are. If we don’t know who we are, we’ll subconsciously let other people pressure us into believing we’re somebody we’re not. A lot of stress comes from hiding behind masks, living double lives, being unreal with others, and trying to be somebody we’re not created to be. Insecurity always produces pressure in our lives; when we’re insecure we feel forced into performing and conforming. We set unrealistic standards for ourselves, and even though we work really hard, we still can’t meet them. To overcome stress we must know who we are, and Who we belong to. We’re a redeemed child of God, put on this earth for a purpose. We are deeply loved and fully accepted by God. He has a plan for our lives; therefore we’re significant. When we don’t base our identity in Christ, we end up trying to find our identity in things that can fade, disappoint, or damage us. Until we know we belong to God and are loved by Him, we’ll always be trying to live up to other people’s expectations and earn their approval. We need to rest in the knowledge that we belong to God. 

 

What Now?

Meet up with someone you trust and are willing to share things with. Each write down a list of your own characteristics. Swap papers, and on the other side write what you think the other person’s characteristics are. How closely do the lists match up?

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