Have you stepped into your true identity? That's the topic of today's powerful message on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe.

Have you stepped into your true identity? That's the topic of today's powerful message on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe.

Some of you have been called to be cycle breakers. You will raise your kids in a different way. You will love your wife or your husband in a different way. You will create a culture that you never grew up in that you never knew. But it's God's call upon your life to break cycles and start a new cycle in Jesus name.

Some of you have been called to be cycle breakers. You will raise your kids in a different way. You will love your wife or your husband in a different way. You will create a culture that you never grew up in that you never knew. But it's God's call upon your life to break cycles and start a new cycle in Jesus name.

Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd, and, you know, one of the most hotly debated topics in today's age is identity. The question of who we are, where we belong, and what defines us is a very important discussion. And as Christians, we need to make sure we're getting our answers from our creator, not the culture. So in today's message, Mark continues a pivotal lesson about why identity matters and how to find the truth about who we really are in the eyes of the one who made us. If you miss part one of this fundamental message, be sure to visit our website and catch up when you can by going to Bold Steps Radio. Org. Now here's Mark with today's bold steps.

Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd, and, you know, one of the most hotly debated topics in today's age is identity. The question of who we are, where we belong, and what defines us is a very important discussion. And as Christians, we need to make sure we're getting our answers from our creator, not the culture. So in today's message, Mark continues a pivotal lesson about why identity matters and how to find the truth about who we really are in the eyes of the one who made us. If you miss part one of this fundamental message, be sure to visit our website and catch up when you can by going to Bold Steps Radio. Org. Now here's Mark with today's bold steps.

The Lord is with you. And then he adds a mighty warrior. This is pretty compelling, pretty powerful, because there are several things that are being, uh, manifest even in this greeting. Gideon is nervous for his life, beating out wheat in a wine press indoors. No wind to blow the chaff away. How it usually was done. And yet God encounters him in this place of struggling with his identity, in this place of loneliness. And he speaks something powerfully into him. And I want you to understand. First of all, he reveals his presence. He he manifests his presence to Gideon. He says, I am with you, Gideon. The Lord Almighty, the God of the universe, is with you. Never underestimate. The access that you have to the presence of God and the presence of God in your life because you are defined. You are changed. Your identity is tied in to the presence of God, tied into the presence of God. The Lord is with you. Not only that, fast forward to the New Testament. Not only is the Lord with you, but the Lord is in you. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. You have become the temple of the Most High God, the dwelling place of God. You walk to the darkest corners of the earth and in a special, tangible, manifest way, you are bringing the presence of God sealed in you. The power of the Holy Spirit. The Lord. Yeah. The Lord is with you. That's a powerful thing to declare. You're not abandoned. You're not alone. You're never alone. You may feel lonely, but you're never alone. Let me say that again. You may feel lonely. You may experience times when you say, no one understands me. No one comprehends what I'm going through. There's no one that can relate to me. And that leads to dark holes of depression. That leaves a dark hole of anxiety that leads to a sense of everybody else seems to be happy here, but I don't fit in. Uh. Can I tell you something? It's not about, uh. It's really not about the setting you're placed in. I think as a follower of Jesus the Christ. You will if you grasp that and understand that he's always with you, that no matter where God places you, you will feel like I fit in. It may be a very secular environment, but you fit in as a missionary bringing the presence of God. Or it may be with other people that know God and you fit in in fellowship, but it starts with a sense that I am not alone. I'm not an orphaned. I'm not abandoned. I'm not discarded. I'm not thrown away. I'm not a number. I'm not anonymous. I belong because the God of the universe is with me, in me, chosen me, bought me, sealed me with his presence. I am not alone because hey, the Lord is with me. I wish I could speak that into you today. I wish I could look in your face personally and say, the Lord is with you. But then he also speaks into an identity, not an identity in the present, but an identity that was coming. He says, the Lord is with you, mighty warrior, mighty warrior. I mean, do you see what Gideon is doing? He's hiding. He's young. He's he's oppressed. He views himself as small. He's treading wine, these grapes in a hidden space. This is not the image that we have of this victorious, brave, courageous, mighty warrior. But God speaks words of life and truth into Gideon's reality before they're even manifest in his life. Before they're real. Before he can see it. Listen. Before he sees it in himself. God sees it in him. Before he even understands that he has the gifting. That's the. That's the power. By the way, can I can I just say that it's the power of mentoring? And God uses mentoring to call things out in us. That's why, let me say that's why. Let me talk to the men in this, in this group here. That's why if your father has been absent, if he's not spoken identity into you, if he hasn't affirmed who you are as a man, that's why you struggle. Because in God's design, your father is called to speak into your life, to call you out, to affirm your manhood, to say, I see this in you. And so when you go face the world, you're not trying to prove to everybody, I'm a man, I'm a man. There's a lot of people, and I work in a setting where most people don't have a lot of good father figures, and there's a lot of abandonment. And sometimes I work with guys that are, you know, £250. They're they're just jacked up and tatted up. And I feel like when I really get down to, they're still trying to prove their manhood. There's something about a father speaking identity into you. There's something about the power of that calling out who you are. But it doesn't mean that if it hasn't happened to your Heavenly Father steps in and begins to speak into your life, and some of you have to take what from your heavenly father, what your earthly father never gave you. The blessing of manhood. The blessing of manhood. God calls Gideon mighty warrior. He doesn't see himself that way. But we are all image bearers of God. No matter how marred and broken we are, we carry the image of God inside of us. But we have to be reminded by our calling and who we are and what God has spoken into us. By the way, mentors, those of you that maybe aren't student age and you could be a mentor and be student age. But can I say to those of you that are mentors here? Never underestimate the power of calling out what you see in people. There's a power over and over. When I talk to people over and over, when I say, what was a defining moment in your life? They tell me about a mentor that spoken to them and saw something in them that they did not see in themselves. They called somebody something out before it was manifest to the world that spoke it into the lies before other people could see it. The power. Of a mentor, seeing and acknowledging those things that we can't see or acknowledge in ourselves. And God says mighty Warrior, speaking prophetically over him, speaking into his destiny, speaking into his call what he would become. But it's more than just his call. It's his identity. This is an encounter with God. The third thing I think I see in this encounter of God is he challenges our insecurities. Notice how Gideon responds to this. But Sir Gideon replied, if the Lord is with me, why has all this happened to us? It doesn't appear like God is with me. Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when he said, did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of the Midianites. He he had created his own narrative. I'm abandoned, discarded by God, no longer chosen by God. God is no longer with us. God ignores us. He had created a narrative because of the culture that he was in. If you've grown up in a household where. The overarching culture was one of negativity, of criticism, of belittling. Throw addiction into the picture. Alcoholism or other addiction? I can guarantee that that is part of the picture. And there starts to be the sense of. I'm not worth. I have no value because it's been spoken to clared over you. Sometimes in addiction and brokenness and all that that brings about. So ingrained within our being that it starts to become our identity and how we see ourselves and God's narrative doesn't seem to match our narrative. It seems to be distant. You said in church and you hear, talk about the love of God, and in your mind you feel. I feel nothing when you talk about ABBA Father, how the father, God loves you. You've had this detachment. It doesn't connect with you. You know it up here. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. You've heard it in Sunday school, but your heart feels very, very, very disconnected from the love of God. Gideon knew the reality, but his culture told him something else.

The Lord is with you. And then he adds a mighty warrior. This is pretty compelling, pretty powerful, because there are several things that are being, uh, manifest even in this greeting. Gideon is nervous for his life, beating out wheat in a wine press indoors. No wind to blow the chaff away. How it usually was done. And yet God encounters him in this place of struggling with his identity, in this place of loneliness. And he speaks something powerfully into him. And I want you to understand. First of all, he reveals his presence. He he manifests his presence to Gideon. He says, I am with you, Gideon. The Lord Almighty, the God of the universe, is with you. Never underestimate. The access that you have to the presence of God and the presence of God in your life because you are defined. You are changed. Your identity is tied in to the presence of God, tied into the presence of God. The Lord is with you. Not only that, fast forward to the New Testament. Not only is the Lord with you, but the Lord is in you. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. You have become the temple of the Most High God, the dwelling place of God. You walk to the darkest corners of the earth and in a special, tangible, manifest way, you are bringing the presence of God sealed in you. The power of the Holy Spirit. The Lord. Yeah. The Lord is with you. That's a powerful thing to declare. You're not abandoned. You're not alone. You're never alone. You may feel lonely, but you're never alone. Let me say that again. You may feel lonely. You may experience times when you say, no one understands me. No one comprehends what I'm going through. There's no one that can relate to me. And that leads to dark holes of depression. That leaves a dark hole of anxiety that leads to a sense of everybody else seems to be happy here, but I don't fit in. Uh. Can I tell you something? It's not about, uh. It's really not about the setting you're placed in. I think as a follower of Jesus the Christ. You will if you grasp that and understand that he's always with you, that no matter where God places you, you will feel like I fit in. It may be a very secular environment, but you fit in as a missionary bringing the presence of God. Or it may be with other people that know God and you fit in in fellowship, but it starts with a sense that I am not alone. I'm not an orphaned. I'm not abandoned. I'm not discarded. I'm not thrown away. I'm not a number. I'm not anonymous. I belong because the God of the universe is with me, in me, chosen me, bought me, sealed me with his presence. I am not alone because hey, the Lord is with me. I wish I could speak that into you today. I wish I could look in your face personally and say, the Lord is with you. But then he also speaks into an identity, not an identity in the present, but an identity that was coming. He says, the Lord is with you, mighty warrior, mighty warrior. I mean, do you see what Gideon is doing? He's hiding. He's young. He's he's oppressed. He views himself as small. He's treading wine, these grapes in a hidden space. This is not the image that we have of this victorious, brave, courageous, mighty warrior. But God speaks words of life and truth into Gideon's reality before they're even manifest in his life. Before they're real. Before he can see it. Listen. Before he sees it in himself. God sees it in him. Before he even understands that he has the gifting. That's the. That's the power. By the way, can I can I just say that it's the power of mentoring? And God uses mentoring to call things out in us. That's why, let me say that's why. Let me talk to the men in this, in this group here. That's why if your father has been absent, if he's not spoken identity into you, if he hasn't affirmed who you are as a man, that's why you struggle. Because in God's design, your father is called to speak into your life, to call you out, to affirm your manhood, to say, I see this in you. And so when you go face the world, you're not trying to prove to everybody, I'm a man, I'm a man. There's a lot of people, and I work in a setting where most people don't have a lot of good father figures, and there's a lot of abandonment. And sometimes I work with guys that are, you know, £250. They're they're just jacked up and tatted up. And I feel like when I really get down to, they're still trying to prove their manhood. There's something about a father speaking identity into you. There's something about the power of that calling out who you are. But it doesn't mean that if it hasn't happened to your Heavenly Father steps in and begins to speak into your life, and some of you have to take what from your heavenly father, what your earthly father never gave you. The blessing of manhood. The blessing of manhood. God calls Gideon mighty warrior. He doesn't see himself that way. But we are all image bearers of God. No matter how marred and broken we are, we carry the image of God inside of us. But we have to be reminded by our calling and who we are and what God has spoken into us. By the way, mentors, those of you that maybe aren't student age and you could be a mentor and be student age. But can I say to those of you that are mentors here? Never underestimate the power of calling out what you see in people. There's a power over and over. When I talk to people over and over, when I say, what was a defining moment in your life? They tell me about a mentor that spoken to them and saw something in them that they did not see in themselves. They called somebody something out before it was manifest to the world that spoke it into the lies before other people could see it. The power. Of a mentor, seeing and acknowledging those things that we can't see or acknowledge in ourselves. And God says mighty Warrior, speaking prophetically over him, speaking into his destiny, speaking into his call what he would become. But it's more than just his call. It's his identity. This is an encounter with God. The third thing I think I see in this encounter of God is he challenges our insecurities. Notice how Gideon responds to this. But Sir Gideon replied, if the Lord is with me, why has all this happened to us? It doesn't appear like God is with me. Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when he said, did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of the Midianites. He he had created his own narrative. I'm abandoned, discarded by God, no longer chosen by God. God is no longer with us. God ignores us. He had created a narrative because of the culture that he was in. If you've grown up in a household where. The overarching culture was one of negativity, of criticism, of belittling. Throw addiction into the picture. Alcoholism or other addiction? I can guarantee that that is part of the picture. And there starts to be the sense of. I'm not worth. I have no value because it's been spoken to clared over you. Sometimes in addiction and brokenness and all that that brings about. So ingrained within our being that it starts to become our identity and how we see ourselves and God's narrative doesn't seem to match our narrative. It seems to be distant. You said in church and you hear, talk about the love of God, and in your mind you feel. I feel nothing when you talk about ABBA Father, how the father, God loves you. You've had this detachment. It doesn't connect with you. You know it up here. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. You've heard it in Sunday school, but your heart feels very, very, very disconnected from the love of God. Gideon knew the reality, but his culture told him something else.

And we'll continue this lesson on the life of Gideon in just a moment. You're listening to Bold Steps, a message from Mark Jobe titled Identity Matters. Let me remind you that the place to go, if you ever miss one of these daily messages is our website, Bold Steps Radio. Org. You can also listen right from your phone by subscribing to the Bold Steps podcast. That way, you'll be able to take these messages with you wherever you go. You'll find us on most podcasts apps by searching for bold steps with doctor Mark Joe. And if you'd like to learn more about Moody Bible Institute, where today's message was originally preached, be sure to go to Moody Bible. Org located in the heart of Chicago. We have students from all across the world, including 54 different countries, and we're still growing. Again, just go to Moody Bible Org to learn more about the education and opportunities we have available. Now back to our message for today. Here again is Mark Jobe with the conclusion of his lesson titled Identity Matters.

And we'll continue this lesson on the life of Gideon in just a moment. You're listening to Bold Steps, a message from Mark Jobe titled Identity Matters. Let me remind you that the place to go, if you ever miss one of these daily messages is our website, Bold Steps Radio. Org. You can also listen right from your phone by subscribing to the Bold Steps podcast. That way, you'll be able to take these messages with you wherever you go. You'll find us on most podcasts apps by searching for bold steps with doctor Mark Joe. And if you'd like to learn more about Moody Bible Institute, where today's message was originally preached, be sure to go to Moody Bible. Org located in the heart of Chicago. We have students from all across the world, including 54 different countries, and we're still growing. Again, just go to Moody Bible Org to learn more about the education and opportunities we have available. Now back to our message for today. Here again is Mark Jobe with the conclusion of his lesson titled Identity Matters.

And then he says in verse 15 he says, pardon me, Lord. Gideon replied, but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family. Hey, if you have a calling upon my life, if you have a purpose for my life, I don't get it, because I don't have what it takes. I can't. You got the wrong person. This is identity. Notice what happens next. God has spoken over him. God has called them. Not only we face our past, believe God's word of destiny over ours, but prioritize your worship. Allow authentic worship to bring spiritual perspective into your life. Life. Notice what Gideon does. Verse 17 Gideon replied, if now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you. And the Lord said, I will wait until you return. I love this. You know I love this. I love it because God gives space for his doubt and his brokenness. God doesn't say. What do you mean? Wait till you come back. I said it to you. Get away from me, you doubter! I see the compassion of God. I see the heart of God. Saying, yeah, this is God Almighty saying, I'll wait for you. Oh, wait. Because I know where you come from. I understand your story. I'm gonna wait. Gideon was embracing the way he knew how to worship God. He was raised in the world of sacrifice. It was the way they worshiped. And he needed to come and worship. And he needed to know it was real. He needed to understand that this was authentically a God thing. He needed a little extra time to process the worship. A sign I need to know this is you, God, and I love that God gives him that time that the Lord says, I will wait until you return. Who in the world does God wait for? This is God Almighty. Waiting on the brokenness of someone who's trying to discover. Figure out. His identity. I don't have time. To tell you the whole story here. But can I tell you something? Don't despise your brokenness. Because God's not going to waste it. He can redeem it. I know you're living in it right now. I know it confuses you right now. I know it makes you want to quit at times and it makes you feel unworthy, unacceptable. Like you can't really do this. I get it, I get it. It's part of our brokenness. But the very thing right now that you see is your greatest weakness. If you wait on God, if you process through this. This can actually become part of your greatest strength. It's the healing, the redemption, the redeeming power of God. And listen to me, some of you, some of you that come from broken families, dysfunctional families, some of you have been called to be cycle breakers. Yeah. You're going to break the cycle that you were raised in and you're going to start another cycle, a cycle that you never knew. It's foreign. It's new territory to you. It's virgin territory to you. But God is calling you. You will not perpetuate what you were raised in. You will create a different cycle. Your cycle breakers, legacy makers. You do not have to repeat what you were raised in. You do not have to continue the cycle that was given to you. You are breaking cycle. Some of you listen. The first cycle to break is the hardest. Some of you God is called to break cycles. You will raise your kids in a different way. You will love your wife or your husband in a different way. You will create a culture that you never grew up in that you never knew. But it's God's call upon your life to break cycles and start a new cycle in Jesus name. You know, oftentimes God. Had to change identities by. Changing people's names. A couple. A couple of them that I remember. Abraham. Hi, father. To Abraham. Father of a great multitude. Ever think how weird that was? God says your name is going to change. I don't have any kids. Your respected father right now. But every time Sarai calls you for dinner. She's going to say, father of a great multitude. Hi. What's your name? Father of a great multitude. Wow. You must have a lot of kids. None. What's your name? Imagine the servants. All these servants. They feel bad that Abraham and Sarah don't have any kids. We're going to call him now. Father. Great multitude. Sure there were smirks. Ah, but God said to Abraham, Abraham, when you're discouraged, I want you to go out. I want you to feel the sand among your toes. I want you to. It's going to remind you your kids are going to be like that. Look to the skies. You're going to have descendants like that. Uncountable. You don't see it now, but I'm changing your identity. Some of you will struggle right here at the Moody Bible Institute. Your greatest struggle will not be to finish your homework. Your greatest struggle will not be to pass those assignments. Your greatest struggle won't be to figure out what major you should have. You're going to struggle. Will not be fitting in culture. Your greatest struggle. For some of you right now. Is wrestling through your identity. In my prayer is that some of you will look back at this time. And so yeah, that's where I understood who I was in God. That's where I got it. That's where I understood. That's what God did. Father, I pray. For that man. That woman. That today looks in the mirror. Half disgusted. Half perplexed. Have depressed. Struggling with deep insecurities. Doubting themselves. Downing their call. Doubting you. I thank you, father, that you're the God that waits. You give time and space. You're the God that speaks over us. You're the God that steps into our vacuum. You're the God that gives us a name. Thank you Lord. You're the God that gives us a name. And I pray in Jesus name. That our identities will begin to be shaped deeply and powerfully by your spirit tattooed in our hearts, never to be erased. I pray that in Jesus name.

And then he says in verse 15 he says, pardon me, Lord. Gideon replied, but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family. Hey, if you have a calling upon my life, if you have a purpose for my life, I don't get it, because I don't have what it takes. I can't. You got the wrong person. This is identity. Notice what happens next. God has spoken over him. God has called them. Not only we face our past, believe God's word of destiny over ours, but prioritize your worship. Allow authentic worship to bring spiritual perspective into your life. Life. Notice what Gideon does. Verse 17 Gideon replied, if now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you. And the Lord said, I will wait until you return. I love this. You know I love this. I love it because God gives space for his doubt and his brokenness. God doesn't say. What do you mean? Wait till you come back. I said it to you. Get away from me, you doubter! I see the compassion of God. I see the heart of God. Saying, yeah, this is God Almighty saying, I'll wait for you. Oh, wait. Because I know where you come from. I understand your story. I'm gonna wait. Gideon was embracing the way he knew how to worship God. He was raised in the world of sacrifice. It was the way they worshiped. And he needed to come and worship. And he needed to know it was real. He needed to understand that this was authentically a God thing. He needed a little extra time to process the worship. A sign I need to know this is you, God, and I love that God gives him that time that the Lord says, I will wait until you return. Who in the world does God wait for? This is God Almighty. Waiting on the brokenness of someone who's trying to discover. Figure out. His identity. I don't have time. To tell you the whole story here. But can I tell you something? Don't despise your brokenness. Because God's not going to waste it. He can redeem it. I know you're living in it right now. I know it confuses you right now. I know it makes you want to quit at times and it makes you feel unworthy, unacceptable. Like you can't really do this. I get it, I get it. It's part of our brokenness. But the very thing right now that you see is your greatest weakness. If you wait on God, if you process through this. This can actually become part of your greatest strength. It's the healing, the redemption, the redeeming power of God. And listen to me, some of you, some of you that come from broken families, dysfunctional families, some of you have been called to be cycle breakers. Yeah. You're going to break the cycle that you were raised in and you're going to start another cycle, a cycle that you never knew. It's foreign. It's new territory to you. It's virgin territory to you. But God is calling you. You will not perpetuate what you were raised in. You will create a different cycle. Your cycle breakers, legacy makers. You do not have to repeat what you were raised in. You do not have to continue the cycle that was given to you. You are breaking cycle. Some of you listen. The first cycle to break is the hardest. Some of you God is called to break cycles. You will raise your kids in a different way. You will love your wife or your husband in a different way. You will create a culture that you never grew up in that you never knew. But it's God's call upon your life to break cycles and start a new cycle in Jesus name. You know, oftentimes God. Had to change identities by. Changing people's names. A couple. A couple of them that I remember. Abraham. Hi, father. To Abraham. Father of a great multitude. Ever think how weird that was? God says your name is going to change. I don't have any kids. Your respected father right now. But every time Sarai calls you for dinner. She's going to say, father of a great multitude. Hi. What's your name? Father of a great multitude. Wow. You must have a lot of kids. None. What's your name? Imagine the servants. All these servants. They feel bad that Abraham and Sarah don't have any kids. We're going to call him now. Father. Great multitude. Sure there were smirks. Ah, but God said to Abraham, Abraham, when you're discouraged, I want you to go out. I want you to feel the sand among your toes. I want you to. It's going to remind you your kids are going to be like that. Look to the skies. You're going to have descendants like that. Uncountable. You don't see it now, but I'm changing your identity. Some of you will struggle right here at the Moody Bible Institute. Your greatest struggle will not be to finish your homework. Your greatest struggle will not be to pass those assignments. Your greatest struggle won't be to figure out what major you should have. You're going to struggle. Will not be fitting in culture. Your greatest struggle. For some of you right now. Is wrestling through your identity. In my prayer is that some of you will look back at this time. And so yeah, that's where I understood who I was in God. That's where I got it. That's where I understood. That's what God did. Father, I pray. For that man. That woman. That today looks in the mirror. Half disgusted. Half perplexed. Have depressed. Struggling with deep insecurities. Doubting themselves. Downing their call. Doubting you. I thank you, father, that you're the God that waits. You give time and space. You're the God that speaks over us. You're the God that steps into our vacuum. You're the God that gives us a name. Thank you Lord. You're the God that gives us a name. And I pray in Jesus name. That our identities will begin to be shaped deeply and powerfully by your spirit tattooed in our hearts, never to be erased. I pray that in Jesus name.

Let me say it again. Amen. You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. A lesson titled Identity Matters. To revisit today's message or share it with a friend. Go online to Bold Steps Radio. Org but Mark, before we move on to any final thoughts to share about today's message.

Let me say it again. Amen. You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. A lesson titled Identity Matters. To revisit today's message or share it with a friend. Go online to Bold Steps Radio. Org but Mark, before we move on to any final thoughts to share about today's message.

Yeah, Wayne, I want to say that whether you're 19 years old or whether you're 45 years old or 65 years old, so many, so many people really struggle with identity. And as you've heard in this message, we can sometimes know it in our head, but to embrace it in our heart sometimes is a process of renewal, but it deeply affects how we talk to people, how we interact in our marriage, how we raise our children, how we engage in our work. Because getting the identity that God has spoken into us is one of the most powerful, transformative truths that we can embrace. So I want to encourage you keep remembering what God speaks over to you, not what your family or society has spoken over you.

Yeah, Wayne, I want to say that whether you're 19 years old or whether you're 45 years old or 65 years old, so many, so many people really struggle with identity. And as you've heard in this message, we can sometimes know it in our head, but to embrace it in our heart sometimes is a process of renewal, but it deeply affects how we talk to people, how we interact in our marriage, how we raise our children, how we engage in our work. Because getting the identity that God has spoken into us is one of the most powerful, transformative truths that we can embrace. So I want to encourage you keep remembering what God speaks over to you, not what your family or society has spoken over you.

That's a good word, Mark. You know, it seems like these days, more than ever, the truth of our identity is under attack. The culture's working hard to shut us down and counter with the Bible says about who we are and where we belong and what defines us. We cannot remain silent about these things.

That's a good word, Mark. You know, it seems like these days, more than ever, the truth of our identity is under attack. The culture's working hard to shut us down and counter with the Bible says about who we are and where we belong and what defines us. We cannot remain silent about these things.

No, we can't. And, um, there's a big dialogue right now in our culture and our society over identity issues, from sexual identity issues to just how we label ourselves. Those are big issues and cause a lot of controversy in the world that we live in. And that's why we are happy to be able to offer this month a book by Pastor Erwin Looser. Uh, I've known, uh, Erwin Looser for many, many years as a fellow pastor in the city of Chicago. He's written a book called we Will Not Be Silenced that addresses that very topic of not allowing our voice to be canceled or silenced in a world that sometimes doesn't like the message that we preach.

No, we can't. And, um, there's a big dialogue right now in our culture and our society over identity issues, from sexual identity issues to just how we label ourselves. Those are big issues and cause a lot of controversy in the world that we live in. And that's why we are happy to be able to offer this month a book by Pastor Erwin Looser. Uh, I've known, uh, Erwin Looser for many, many years as a fellow pastor in the city of Chicago. He's written a book called we Will Not Be Silenced that addresses that very topic of not allowing our voice to be canceled or silenced in a world that sometimes doesn't like the message that we preach.

It's such an important book. So let us send you a copy. We will not be silenced. Just make a donation of any amount to bold steps to receive it. Go online to Bold Steps radio org or give us a call at (800) 356-6639. That's one 800 D.L. Moody. You can also write a check and send it in the mail, along with your request for this bold step gift by addressing your envelope to bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten and before we close out today, we want to let you know that you can now find Bold Steps Radio on YouTube. We'll be sharing some special videos from Mark, including behind the scenes content and exclusive video messages on topics like discovering your purpose, handling hurt in relationships, and much more. So log in to YouTube, search for Bold Steps radio and subscribe today. And while you're at it, go ahead and join us on your social media accounts as well by searching Facebook and Instagram for Bold Steps Radio. That's our time for today. I'm Wayne Shepard, encouraging you to join us again tomorrow for the start of a brand new study on Jesus Sermon on the Mount, titled The Pursuit of Happiness. We'll uncover some surprising truths about how to attract happiness and where our joy is ultimately found. It's Tuesday on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Bold Steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.

It's such an important book. So let us send you a copy. We will not be silenced. Just make a donation of any amount to bold steps to receive it. Go online to Bold Steps radio org or give us a call at (800) 356-6639. That's one 800 D.L. Moody. You can also write a check and send it in the mail, along with your request for this bold step gift by addressing your envelope to bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten and before we close out today, we want to let you know that you can now find Bold Steps Radio on YouTube. We'll be sharing some special videos from Mark, including behind the scenes content and exclusive video messages on topics like discovering your purpose, handling hurt in relationships, and much more. So log in to YouTube, search for Bold Steps radio and subscribe today. And while you're at it, go ahead and join us on your social media accounts as well by searching Facebook and Instagram for Bold Steps Radio. That's our time for today. I'm Wayne Shepard, encouraging you to join us again tomorrow for the start of a brand new study on Jesus Sermon on the Mount, titled The Pursuit of Happiness. We'll uncover some surprising truths about how to attract happiness and where our joy is ultimately found. It's Tuesday on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Bold Steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.