Latest / WholeHeart Conversations / Stand Firm In Who You Are

Transcript

Stand Firm In Who You Are · WholeHeart Conversations

• 0:00
  Constance Lavonice: I watched a YouTube short video this week entitled Is the Teacher's Lesson Right or Wrong, Weak or Strong on the Black Doll Affair channel?
• 0:13
  Constance Lavonice: I've never watched this channel before, but the video looked interesting, and it was a short.
• 0:21
  Constance Lavonice: It looked like it was filmed in the 1960s at a time when black Americans were redefining their own identities, which had seen shifts from being called colored to Negro to Afro-Americans at the time the original video was recorded.
• 0:47
  Constance Lavonice: And there was a brief scene that featured an interaction with a black American male teacher and two of his black male students.
• 0:58
  Constance Lavonice: At one point, the teacher asks a little boy who's standing in front of him, How old are you, young man?
• 1:09
  Constance Lavonice: The boy says, I am four years old.
• 1:15
  Constance Lavonice: The teacher responded, You're not four.
• 1:19
  Constance Lavonice: Now tell me your right age.
• 1:22
  Constance Lavonice: How old are you?
• 1:24
  Constance Lavonice: The boy paused, looked around, seemed a little confused, doubting himself for a moment, stuttered, and hesitantly answered, much quieter.
• 1:43
  Constance Lavonice: I am four years old.
• 1:46
  Constance Lavonice: The teacher asked, Are you sure you're four?
• 1:53
  Constance Lavonice: Yeah, says the boy.
• 1:57
  Constance Lavonice: You're six years old, said the teacher.
• 2:02
  Constance Lavonice: The boy, no longer doubting, shouted No, I am four years old.
• 2:12
  Constance Lavonice: Eventually, the teacher told him, then stand up for it.
• 2:20
  Constance Lavonice: What this video represented was the importance of knowing yourself, not letting other people define you, and standing firm in that knowledge without compromise.
• 2:41
  Constance Lavonice: You're listening to Wholeheart Conversations, a podcast especially for women to receive biblical encouragement that fosters resilience through the practical application of God's word.
• 2:58
  Constance Lavonice: I'm your host, Constance Lavonice.
• 3:02
  Constance Lavonice: This particular video grabbed my attention and resonated with me because as a black female or an American female of African descent who was born in the 60s and grew up in the southern part of the United States, I was often viewed by others in a way that was inconsistent to what I knew myself to be.
• 3:32
  Constance Lavonice: The lesson, the takeaway is, it's important to know who you are without a shadow of doubt.
• 3:43
  Constance Lavonice: Because if you don't know who you are, someone else will define you.
• 3:50
  Constance Lavonice: As Christians, your identity comes from God.
• 3:55
  Constance Lavonice: He determines who you are.
• 3:59
  Constance Lavonice: It's not affected by your performance, your experience, or by what other people think of you.
• 4:08
  Constance Lavonice: God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth and everything in it, created you in his supreme image.
• 4:21
  Constance Lavonice: God says you are his masterpiece.
• 4:27
  Constance Lavonice: Mole over that.
• 4:29
  Constance Lavonice: You belong to him.
• 4:33
  Constance Lavonice: He defines you.
• 4:36
  Constance Lavonice: When you start to doubt yourself, remember you are His.
• 4:42
  Constance Lavonice: And through your relationship with Jesus Christ, you are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
• 4:56
  Constance Lavonice: You were chosen before the foundation of the world.
• 5:01
  Constance Lavonice: You are holy and blameless before Him.
• 5:05
  Constance Lavonice: You were predestined to adoption as His daughter.
• 5:11
  Constance Lavonice: You are redeemed through His blood, forgiven of your sin, loved, favored, and lavished in His grace.
• 5:25
  Constance Lavonice: Ephesians chapter one, verses three through seven.
• 5:31
  Constance Lavonice: So I want to encourage you to know God so you will know yourself and stand firm in the knowledge of who you are.
• 5:46
  Constance Lavonice: And if anything you've heard was helpful, please subscribe and share with a friend.
• 5:58
  Constance Lavonice: And text the show and let me know what's on your heart.