Identity Crisis _ living in the dirt.pptx

Knowing who I am

1. Life in the Dirt… When you don’t know who you are and don’t have a plan for your life, you look for meaning in all the wrong places. And then you justify your actions with excuses like… ? Everyone else is doing it so it can’t be that bad?   ! If I just make myself look good enough, people will like me!   ! I need a few drinks to relax and really be myself!   ? I have no future anyway, so what do I have to lose?   ? But it feels good in the moment, so who cares about the consequences ? ! I hate myself and don’t deserve to be happy anyway!   ! If I wear the right clothes, people will think I’m cool!    

2. Life in the Dirt… When you don’t know who you are and don’t have a plan for your life, you look for meaning in all the wrong places. And then you justify your actions with excuses like… ! If I fall pregnant, I can just have an abortion!   ! I’m not addicted, I can stop anytime I want!   ! It shows you are a real man or woman!   ! If I’m hurting, I’m going to hurt them too!   ! I’m lost and alone; I’m better off being dead!   Take a closer look at this list. None of these reasons have to do with real or healthy values; they are all a response to peer pressure and lies you tell yourself. When you don’t know who you are, you do things for all the wrong reasons!  

3. Life in the Dirt… When you don’t know who you are and don’t have a plan for your life, you look for meaning in all the wrong places. And then you justify your actions with excuses like… Everyone else is doing it so it can’t be that bad? God, not everyone else, is the standard ! Ephesians 5:1 THEREFORE BE imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]. Exodus 23:2 " You must not follow the crowd in doing wrong.

4. Life in the Dirt… When you don’t know who you are and don’t have a plan for your life, you look for meaning in all the wrong places. And then you justify your actions with excuses like… If I just make myself look good enough, people will like and accept me! In Christ Jesus, God Has accepted you already! Ephesians 1:6 (NKJV) “To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.”

5. Life in the Dirt… When you don’t know who you are and don’t have a plan for your life, you look for meaning in all the wrong places. And then you justify your actions with excuses like… I need a few drinks to relax and really be myself! That is another dangerous road to self-discovery! Colossians 3:5 (MSG) "...sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God." Proverbs 11:28 A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.

6. Life in the Dirt… When you don’t know who you are and don’t have a plan for your life, you look for meaning in all the wrong places. And then you justify your actions with excuses like… I have no future anyway, so what do I have to lose? God Has a future planned for you ! Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

7. Life in the Dirt… When you don’t know who you are and don’t have a plan for your life, you look for meaning in all the wrong places. And then you justify your actions with excuses like… But it feels good in the moment, so who cares about the consequences? The consequences often come multiplied! Galatians 6:7-8 Don't be misled; remember that you can't ignore God and get away with it: a man will always reap just the kind of crop he sows! If he sows to please his own wrong desires, he will be planting seeds of evil and he will surely reap a harvest of spiritual decay and death; but if he plants the good things of the Spirit, he will reap the everlasting life that the Holy Spirit gives him.

8. Life in the Dirt… When you don’t know who you are and don’t have a plan for your life, you look for meaning in all the wrong places. And then you justify your actions with excuses like… I hate myself and don’t deserve to be happy anyway! Regardless of what we feel about ourselves, God loves us! Romans 5:8, 11 “But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. So now we can ‘ rejoice’ in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.”

9. Life in the Dirt… When you don’t know who you are and don’t have a plan for your life, you look for meaning in all the wrong places. And then you justify your actions with excuses like… If I wear the right clothes, people will think I’m cool (soft)! Better to appear cool and be You than miss the joy of being yourself just to appear tough!   Matthew 5:5 (MSG) " You're blessed when you're content with just who you are--no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought .”

10. Life in the Dirt… When you don’t know who you are and don’t have a plan for your life, you look for meaning in all the wrong places. And then you justify your actions with excuses like… If I fall pregnant, I can just have an abortion! God is against such abortions! He plans for babies even before they are born. Psalms 139:13, 15-16 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.  

11. Life in the Dirt… When you don’t know who you are and don’t have a plan for your life, you look for meaning in all the wrong places. And then you justify your actions with excuses like… I’m not addicted, I can stop anytime I want! Every addiction you can think of started with such kind of thinking! Romans 6:16 “Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.”  

12. Life in the Dirt… When you don’t know who you are and don’t have a plan for your life, you look for meaning in all the wrong places. And then you justify your actions with excuses like… It shows you are a real man or woman! Being a true man or woman lies only in being who God made you!   Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

13. Life in the Dirt… When you don’t know who you are and don’t have a plan for your life, you look for meaning in all the wrong places. And then you justify your actions with excuses like… If I’m hurting, I’m going to hurt them too! Two wrongs don't make a right; You'll only hurt more!   Romans 12:21 (NKJV) “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

14. Life in the Dirt… When you don’t know who you are and don’t have a plan for your life, you look for meaning in all the wrong places. And then you justify your actions with excuses like… I’m lost and alone; I’m better off being dead! You don't have to be lost and alone. That was why Jesus came! Luke 19:10 (NKJV) for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Hebrews 13:5b "For God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never abandon you. " Ecclesiastes 9:4a "There is hope only for the living."