Latest / Inspired Edge: From Fear to Faith-Filled Living / Who Do You Believe You Are? Unpacking Identity and Confidence

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Who Do You Believe You Are? Unpacking Identity and Confidence · Inspired Edge: From Fear to Faith-Filled Living

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  Foreign.
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  Welcome to Inspired Edge.
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  From fear to Faith filled living.
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  I'm Chuck Keller, Christian life coach and founder of Inspired Edge Coaching Today.
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  Let me ask you a simple question.
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  Where does your confidence come from?
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  For many people, confidence.
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  Confidence feels like something we're constantly trying to build, constantly trying to maintain, and constantly afraid that we might lose.
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  Maybe it rises when things are going well, when work is going well, when people affirm you, when you accomplish something meaningful.
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  But then something happens.
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  You make a mistake, someone criticizes you.
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  You compare yourself to someone else who seems to be doing better, and suddenly that confidence disappears.
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  If you've ever experienced that, you're not alone.
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  And in many cases, the reason confidence feels so fragile is because it's tied to something that was never meant to carry the weight of your identity.
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  Today I want to talk about something that truly changes everything.
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  Your identity in Christ.
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  Because when your identity becomes clear, confidence begins to grow in a completely different way.
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  As a coach, I've noticed something over and over again when talking with people.
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  Many struggles with confidence actually begin with identity.
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  Not ability, not intelligence, not potential identity.
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  In other words, the question underneath so many struggles is this.
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  Who do I believe I really am?
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  And if that question is unclear, confidence will almost always be unstable.
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  And what happens is people begin anchoring their identity in things that were never designed to define them.
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  For example, many people unknowingly build their identity around their achievements, their accomplishments, their productivity, their performance.
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  And while achievements can certainly be meaningful, they're not stable foundations.
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  Because what happens the moment things don't go well?
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  What happens when you fail?
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  Or when you simply have a season where progress feel slow?
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  If your identity is tied to achievement, then your sense of worth rises and falls with performance.
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  And that can be exhausting.
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  Another place that we often anchor our identity is in other people's approval.
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  What people think about us, how others respond to us, whether or not we feel accepted or affirmed.
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  The challenge there is obvious.
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  People's opinions change.
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  And if your identity depends on approval, you'll constantly feel like you're chasing it.
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  And then there's another trap that's incredibly common today.
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  Comparison.
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  Comparison has become almost unavoidable in our culture.
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  You see someone further along in their career, someone with a stronger marriage, someone with more influence, someone who just seems more confident.
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  And slowly comparison begins, whispering something dangerous.
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  Maybe I'm not enough.
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  But here's the truth.
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  Comparison distorts identity.
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  It shifts your focus away from who God created you to be and onto measuring yourself against someone else's path.
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  And that will always Create insecurity.
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  This is why the Bible speaks so clearly about identity.
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  And one of my favorite verses related to this is found in Ephesians 2:10, where it says, for we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
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  There is so much truth packed into that one verse, but I want to highlight just a few things.
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  First, it says, we are God's workmanship.
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  Think about that for a moment.
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  You are not an accident.
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  You are not random.
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  You are not overlooked.
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  You are God's workmanship.
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  Another translation uses the word masterpiece.
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  In other words, you were intentionally created by God, designed with purpose, formed with care.
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  That alone changes how we should view ourselves.
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  But the verse also reminds us that we were created in Christ Jesus for good works, meaning your purpose flows out of your identity, not the other way around.
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  Your value doesn't come from what you accomplish.
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  Your accomplishments flow from who you already are in Christ.
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  And this is where many of us get it backwards.
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  We believe that we must prove our worth through performance, and Scripture teaches the opposite.
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  Your worth is already established in Christ, and from that foundation, you begin living out the works that God has prepared for you.
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  Now let me share something that I often see in the coaching conversations I have.
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  When someone begins to understand who they are in Christ, something begins to shift internally.
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  You can almost see it happen.
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  Their posture changes.
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  Their thinking becomes clearer.
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  Their decisions become more courageous.
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  Why?
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  Because confidence starts growing from truth rather than performance.
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  And when identity is unclear, we often hesitate.
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  We often overthink our decisions.
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  We often second guess ourselves.
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  We worry about what others will think.
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  But when that identity becomes anchored in Christ, something powerful happens.
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  We begin asking different questions.
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  Instead of asking, what if I fail?
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  We begin asking, what is God calling me to do?
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  Instead of asking, what will people think?
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  They begin asking, what would faith look like in this moment?
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  And instead of constantly trying to prove themselves, they begin living from the quiet confidence that they are already accepted, already loved, and already secure in Christ.
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  And that kind of confidence is very different.
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  It's not arrogance.
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  It's not pride.
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  It's simply a settled understanding of who you belong to.
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  And when that becomes clear, decisions become clearer, too.
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  Our identity shapes behavior, whether we realize it or not.
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  If you believe you're constantly falling short, you will often live cautiously and fearfully.
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  If you believe that you must earn approval, you will constantly overwork and overextend yourself.
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  And if you believe that you're defined by past mistakes, you may struggle to move forward at all.
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  But when you begin to understand that you are a child of God.
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  Chosen, redeemed, loved.
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  Everything begins to shift.
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  You begin stepping forward with faith.
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  You begin making decisions aligned with purpose.
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  You begin letting go of comparison because you're realizing something important.
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  God didn't call you to become someone else.
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  He called you to to faithfully walk in the path that he has prepared for you.
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  And that path is unique.
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  Which means comparison simply doesn't make sense anymore.
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  So let me leave you with a question to reflect on today.
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  Where might you be allowing comparison to influence how you see yourself?
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  Maybe it's comparison at work.
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  Maybe it's comparison in your spiritual life.
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  Maybe it's comparison with someone else's stage of life.
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  But if comparison has been shaping how you see yourself, I want to encourage you to pause and return to what Scripture says you are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, designed with purpose.
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  And when your identity begins to be anchored in that truth, your confidence will begin to grow in a completely different way.
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  Not fragile, not dependent on approval, but rooted in something far stronger your identity in Christ.
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  If today's episode has encouraged you, take a few minutes to reflect on that question.
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  And if you want to go deeper into living with clarity, confidence, focus, faith and purpose, I'd love to support you in that.
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  You can find resources and coaching opportunities at Inspired Edge coaching.
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  Com.
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  Until next time.
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  Remember this confidence isn't something you manufacture.
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  It grows naturally when you begin living from who God says you already are.