The chatter of self talk and slander can either build us up in Christ or it can bring our spirits down. Therefore, we must put off the old self and put on the new self that Christ created us to be. We cannot live in the past and we cannot live like the world. “We have to align ourselves with God’s word not the worlds or anyone else’s either including what we tell ourselves and what we believe. The only absolute truth there is, is God’s truth in scripture.The voices of condemnation, the voices of rejection and the lies of the enemy don’t count because they cannot hold up to the truth of God’s word. “-Elizabeth Hughes (2020) When we walk into a room our identity in Christ should be the first thing that people should see radiate from our faces and smiles. It should be the first difference they see in us. His truth has to be dripping from our lips and drenching others with his grace and mercy. The point is now that we are new creations in Christ his light and truth is what should be coming from our mouths, and not slander not doubt not disbelief or fear, because God does not operate out of fear and he did not create us to operate in fear. Instead Christ calls us to walk in a manner worthy of what he has called us to, to further the gospel and love others in unity. Let’s keep in mind though the world’s definition of unity and Christ’s definition is different. In Ephesians Paul speaks on how we are to walk in a manner worthy of our callings in Christ. It says that, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit-just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”(Ephesians 4:1-7ESV). The fascinating thing that Paul is shedding light on here is we not only have to remain faithful to what Christ has called us to but how we are to walk it out day by day. We are to walk in gentleness and be slow to anger meaning we have to be willing to leave room for others who do not know Christ and fellow Christians for grace to work in their lives. Also, we must walk in humility meaning pride cannot be within our hearts. The point is we cannot be quick to judgement and we have to be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, and we must meet them where they are at. Just like Christ does for us he meets us where we are at and gives us grace to grow in our faith. Christ sheds light on our sins and shows us how to turn away from it. So even when others come at us with opposition, condemnation, rejection, judgements or any kind of falsehood we cannot let slander come from our mouths and we must obtain self control when we are tempted to let those falsehood reside in us. For example Lisa Terkeurst says that, “The voices of condemnation, shame, and rejection can come at you, but they don’t have to reside in you.That’s your miracle in the mess.”(Terkeurst, 2016, Uninvited pg.169). Furthermore, this is where putting off the old self comes into the scene. We as new creations in Christ cannot live as if we are unholy but that we are made new in Him. We have to put away the selves we used to be before Christ saved us, and we must live in Him as the righteousness he created us to be. We cannot live as the filthy rags we once were, but as the lamb white as snow that He has made us to be. Again in Ephesians it says, “to put off your old self which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds and to put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor for we are members one of another.”(Ephesians 4:22-25ESV). Thus, the manner in how we walk, how we walk out our faith is very important. We cannot let the opinions of others dissuade us from following hard after Christ and we should not let our own opinions dissuade us from following hard after Christ nor should we let it reside in us. What I mean by our own opinions is the self talk we have running through our minds on repeat needs to be Christ’s truth. We can’t have defeat on repeat in our minds. Above I spoke that Christ’s truth has to be dripping from our lips that also applies to the self talk we have within our minds. And the only way to get the truth in our hearts and dripping from our lips to drenching others with it, it has to be in us and to do that we have to dive, dig into the scriptures ourselves we have to be disciplined to seek out the truth. No one is going to spoon feed it to us and have to seek Christ with our hearts and when we do that we will find him there. With that being said once we seek Christ with our whole hearts then we realize our identity is within him and his truth. Once we realize our identity is in Christ and fully understand whose we are, then we can make wiser decisions and then we can walk into any room with truth dripping from our lips. Lysa Terkeurst also says, “We must let our identity not our insecurity be the first thing that walks into ever situation we face-every decision we make.”(Terkeurst, 2014, The Best Yes, pg. 202). When insecurity walks into the room before identity we as humans become fearful, doubtful, and timid. For example writers who never take the chance to put they're writing out into the world or those who never choose to take heart and put words onto the pages are acting in fear and fear of rejection. Another example would be as a writer myself never taking the chance to write a book myself. I have thought about it many times, but have yet to have something that inspiring put onto my heart yet. Now if God did put something onto my heart to be written in book form I would be more than willing to take that journey and ride with Christ. In reference to that there was a decorative art that I saw in the store several times that caught my attention every single time. It said something to the effect “don’t let anyone dull your sparkle”. I don’t know whoever came up with that but it is eye catching which is also inspiring. This is the kind of thing Paul is speaking on in Ephesians that we are to walk in a manner pleasing to God and that we are to put off the old selves and put on the new. There is one last quote from Terkeurst that i want to sure that ties into this extremely well. “There is an abundant need in this world for your exact brand of beautiful.”(Terkeurst, 2016 Uninvited, pg.126). To end this post I will say, there maybe times where we are uninvited, rejected, refused, and turned away because we hold fast to Christ, His truth, and our identities, but we will never be turned away from Christ. And when we know and remember whose we are, people will be inspired to seek out the truth themselves. References English Standard Version Study Bible (2008) Crossway Publishing, Wheaton ILL, Terkeurst, Lysa 2014 The Best Yes, Making Wise Decisions In The Midst of Endless Demands, Thomas Nelsons Books, Nashville Tn Terkeurst, Lysa 2016, Uninvited Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left out, and Lonely, Thomas Nelson Books, Nashville, Tn Pictures, 2020 by Elizabeth Hughes