The Gap between your Identity and your Credentials and Performance | John Giftah | Inspirational Christian Sermon

0:01 Do you ever look around and think, Wow, the world is a crazy place and it just seems to get crazier and crazier. Ease your mind and take a break. This is Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We're a hub for inspirational Christian sermons, practical keys for Christian living, and Christian discussions and interviews. You'll be inspired to live the life that you were created for. Your host is a top ranking podcaster, best selling author, world record holder, aerospace engineer, life coach, evangelist, and founder of John Gifta International.

0:43 Welcome to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We live in a time in age, but most of the emphasisis on what you do, what have you accomplished? And when you say you, the first thing you say is you know what. I'm an engineer or a doctor, or an evangelist, or a preacher or a best selling author or whatever be your profession. We try to focus on what we do and we derive our identity from that, and that's how the world system has been predominantly going by saying, Oh, this person is a notable preacher, this person is an influencer, this person has such a big following ort.

1:23 We try to mix up our identity with our accomplishments or based on our performance. We look at all of that and mix it up, and we tend to derive our identity from what we have achieved, what we do, and so on and so forth. And I'm preaching this from a place where I'm like, you know what, I'm in introspecting a lot these days. Okay, as I've we've been sharing with you guys. You know, one of the things I've made very sure of is that, you know, moving forward, every message that is going to be coming forward on the podcast, it's not going to be mechanical.

1:57 I'm praying the Lord let it not be mechanical anymore. You know. I've been doing this like, oh, I need to release a message. I need to get this done. And I was actually not planning on releasing an episode today because I was kind of in a place where I was like, God, you know what, I want to move from a place where you lead me to preach, You lead me the record, you lead me to send out a message, then I will do it. Because I'm in a place where I'm literally introspecting what I'm preaching. What I'm saying is from a place like first of all, like I said, you know, it should not be mechanical.

2:30 It should be led by the spirit of Gods. Only then you will be transformed. Only then the message will be a blessing to you guys. At the same time, from a place where I'm saying I didn't want my identity to deep deride from what I do because for the last couple of months or even to say, the other day, I was checking it's more than two years since the podcast started hitting the number one spot in India and you know a couple of other things that started happening. What I noticed this, You know, I've been introspecting to check that my identity is not derived from my podcast.

3:00 Are you getting what I'm saying? A lot of times, you know, people just know me as the podcast guy. They you know, the minute they think of podcasts, they think of me, or you know, the minute they think of me they think of the podcast. The first question they ask before they ask me how are you is how is your podcast doing? You know, That's how things have been in the recent times. And I've been coming down to that place where I'm like, okay, listen, God, you know, because I have been feeling that uneasiness where I wanted to really introspect, you know, to ensure that the podcast doesn't become my idol, to make sure that I'm not deriving from a place of just releasing an episode, to be just getting a place where my identity is derived from being a podcaster or a pranking podcaster or anything on the the sun.

3:43 But you know what, I wanted to get to the place where I'm like, God, even if you're asking me to stop, I'm willing to do it. In fact, the reason I didn't record to this episode till this moment is because I was like, God, i'mness, you lead me to this. I'm not going to release. I'm not going to do this. I'm not I'm contemplating whether to make it daily or once in a couple of days, or how the Lord leads, because I don't want any message to be mechanical just releasing for the sake of releasing. I wanted to be a blessing to people, and and and what I noticed this, you know today, if as I introspected myself, I was like, listen, I took the whole day office a cool day like, you know, just being myself where I wanted to get my identity right where where am I okay?

4:29 Even if I'm not releasing an episode? Am I okay? Even if you know the ranking gets affected? Am I okay with that? Or is that becoming my idol? I really introspected, and when I came to a place where I realized, from the bottom of my heart, you know, I'm saying, God, I'm willing to stop it if you want me to. And I noticed that even when I didn't want to, I mean, even when I was willing to stop or didn't want to release at the right time, the Lord just put the word in me saying go and release this word over people.

5:01 You see. That is the place where I'm like, Wow, I'm releasing this from a place where I understand that the podcast is not my identity. You get what I'm saying. So I want you guys to check yourself today. So I'm not preaching from a place of theory. I'm preaching from my life where I want you to introspect. Whatever you do, is that derived is your identity derived from that whatever be it is, whether it is you know, maybe something that you're happy about maybe you're a poet. Is that from where you're deriving your identity or the fact that you know.

5:37 One of the things that I was really looking forward or looking at the last couple of months was, you know, the fact that one of my gifts is to be committed, the sense of commitment. In the last two years, I think, except one day when there was a technical glitch, every single day, without a single break, I've been able to release an episode. And I was like, Wow, I've been able to do this. But of course I give all glory to God and credit to God. But again it came down to my place where I'm like, is consistency?

6:07 My God, you can't even what I'm saying. I started introspecting everything. I want you guys to get to that place where you just be honest before God and say, God, is there anything that is you know, taking your place? Is there anything that is the cause of me to get my identity from? Take it away? Take it away? You know. There should not be any false idols in us, and sometimes ministry can be an idol. Sometimes your work can be an idol. Sometimes your family can be an idol. Sometimes your achievements can be your idol.

6:44 I pray that today all those false idols should be broken in the name of Jesus. Are you willing to let go of them? To say, God, you know what, even if I don't get any of this, totally fine, because my identity is not derived from that. My identity comes from you, and from that place, when you upgrade, you will be a blessing. And and I want to just share this scription and I want to close. It's found in Matthew three, verse seventeen. There's a moment when Jesus was just baptized, and a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

7:23 This is the word of God, the Father, speaking over God, the son Jesus Christ. If you look at different translations, it says, this is the dearly this is my dearly loved son. This is my beloved son. And you know, all the different versions say very similar lines. But here's the thing. This was spoken over Jesus even before he had performed a single miracle. He had not open blind eyes, You're not healed any sick. He had not calmed the storm, he had not raised the dead, he had not turned the water into wine.

7:56 It's not done any miracle, but Jesus is been spoken of and by the God the Father and saying, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. In other words, I want you to get to your identity as a son and the daughter of the King of kings and a lot of lords. It's not based on what you have done or not done. You know, my identity as son of my parents is not based on what I do or not do, whether i'm you know, whether they're happy with what I do or not. That's not the fact, because none of that can cancel my actions, cannot cancel the fact that I still am their son.

8:31 You get what I'm saying today. I want you to derive your identity apart from your performance, apart from your credentials, apart from your achievements, and get to the place where your identity is found in just the fact that you're a child of the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. Amen, God bless you. You've been listening to feel for the so with John GIFTA, we hope you were blessed and inspire to live the life that God has for you. Make sure to subscribe to the John Gifta YouTube channel for regular uploads of sermons, skits, interviews, and more.

9:12 Follow John Gifta on Instagram for regular inspirational posts, and don't forget to check out the best selling books written by John Gifta, Who Am I which will help you understand your identity and the latest number one bestseller Unveil Your Purpose, helping you discover your purpose and to start walking in it. Make sure to leave our rating in review and be sure to share it with your friends and loved ones. If you'd like to donate, you can find the PayPal link in the description. And if you'd like to invite John Gifta to speak at your event or to get more details, go to the website at www got John Gifta dot com.

9:49 See you on the next episode of The Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. God bless you