January 27, 2025 • 17 mins
We are teachers. But our identity is so much more than that. When we tie our worth to doing a good job, or our students doing a good job, it creates problems for us. Listen in as Linda shares how to lean in to our true identity in the Christ from the classroom to the rest of our lives.
Get notes + links at http://teach4theheart.com/334
00:00 Finding Identity in Christ
07:18 The Impact of Identity on Teaching
15:46 Practical Steps to Secure Identity
If you liked this episode, check out Episode 327: Helping Students Build Their Identity in Christ at https://teach4theheart.com/327
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
When our worth and our identity is tied to being a great teacher, then we are reallysusceptible and it's easy to get discouraged and frustrated.
But when our identity is placed in Christ, it changes everything and helps us to teachwith hope and joy no matter what.
Welcome back to the Teach for the Heart podcast where we tackle teaching challenges from abiblical perspective.
(00:25):
Why are we here?
because we don't believe that our spiritual walk and teaching profession should exist intwo separate domains.
Rather, the hope we have in Christ should change how we approach everything, not just athome, but at school as well.
So join us as we explore both the spiritual and practical sides of key teachingchallenges, integrating them together so we can succeed at teaching, glorify God, and make
(00:46):
a lasting difference in our students' hearts and lives.
This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Herzog Foundation.
Today I want to talk a little bit about our identity or our self-worth and how as teachersit can be so easy to place that identity in things that are not going to support us.
Things like our teaching or our various roles that we place, that we take, and that canreally lead to a lot of trouble.
(01:14):
So we want to kind of explore what happens when we place our identity in other things andit can be so easy to do.
may not even be realize that we're doing it.
and then what it looks like to place our identity in what God says we are, place it inChrist and the difference that can make, the resilience that that can give us as teachers.
So let's start off by talking about what are some things that we might place our identityand our worth in instead of Christ.
(01:40):
So here's the thing, a lot of times these things that we might find our identity in,they're actually good things, but it's still problematic because it's not the ultimate
thing, which is God.
Here's some things that we might place our identity in.
So you might find a lot of, when I say identity, I'm talking about when I can say like,who am I?
In my core, who am I?
(02:01):
How do I see myself?
What do I feel gives me worth?
That's what we're talking about here.
So we might find it in our roles.
So I might find a lot of identity in the fact that I am a teacher.
That's who I am.
If I'm not a teacher, I don't know who I am.
If you're like, if I'm not this, then I don't know what to do.
then you're placing your identity in that.
So it could be your role.
(02:22):
It could be a role as a teacher.
If you're a wife or a mom or a husband, you might find a lot of identity in that role youplay.
Maybe you put a lot of identity in your role as director of the play or head of whatever.
So sometimes we take those roles and they're a key piece of who we are.
It's not just what we do, it's who we are.
(02:42):
So it could be a role.
We can also sometimes place our identity and our worth in our own abilities or ourqualities.
So in other words, I might find a lot of my self-worth in the fact that I am a goodteacher.
That's very important to me.
And if I'm not a good teacher or someone doesn't think I'm a good teacher, like, that is abig threat to me because that's who I am.
(03:04):
That's where my worth comes from.
That makes sense?
There might be other character qualities or things about us that we really like grab andtake a put place our identity
So we might say like, I'm a really good friend or I'm a good leader or I'm compassionateor I'm strong.
Like there might be a piece of our, like I said, personality or a trait or a strength thatwe have that we really latch onto when we're kind of like, this is who I am.
(03:29):
And we can kind of identify this because if something threatens it, it's not just, I'mstruggling in this area.
It's like a personal attack on who I am.
That's kind of one way we can identify that.
Sometimes we can place our identity in what others think about us.
So sometimes we really what other people say is very, very important to us.
And my identity is tied to how others view me, which I'm that kind of should be obviouslyproblematic because we have no control over what others think.
(03:59):
And so that really leaves us susceptible.
So
Let's talk for a minute, what does it look like when we place our identity or worth insome of these good things?
And it might be something I listed, it might be something different that you might findyour identity tied to.
But regardless, when we place our identity and our worth in these things, our self-worthand our emotions get really tied to how this specific area is going.
(04:23):
So in other words, if I find my identity in being a good teacher, well, when I feel like Iam a good teacher, I'm high.
I'm riding high, everything is great.
But if something causes me to feel like I'm not a good teacher or someone else doesn'tthink I'm a good teacher, I get a bad evaluation, my self-worth and my, it can really,
really plummet because my identity and my worth is tied to that.
(04:44):
And now that this is unsure, this is shaky.
Like I am, I'm not just like a bummer.
I'm in like the depths of despair.
Okay, so it can really, really shake us.
So let me go through a few examples.
So first of all, a personal example.
When I left teaching,
When I became pregnant, my husband and decided I'm going to step away from teaching atleast for a while.
And I had been planning to do that basically my whole life.
(05:07):
So it wasn't anything crazy.
It was what I wanted to do.
However, I had a real identity crisis.
And I really realized, had to face the fact that I had put so much of my identity in beinga teacher.
I looked forward to it.
I dreamed about it.
It was who I am.
That now that I wasn't going to be doing that, I was like...
what is going, like I had a literal like identity crisis.
I was really way more shaken up than I realized.
(05:30):
And I had to kind of go back and realize, wait, this being a teacher is a role that I haveplayed, but it's not who I am.
And I still have worth and I'm still the same person without it.
And I had to root my identity in Christ, which we're gonna talk about how to do in aminute.
But it was really like a, it was very, very tough because I had placed my identity inthat.
Let's give another example.
(05:50):
Let's say that a teacher who's,
Identity is in being a good teacher and their role as a teacher gets a bad evaluation.
Okay, well it's not just, that stinks, I have some things I need to work on.
It's I've been attacked.
And they might not say this out loud, but what's happening inside internally is my veryidentity, who I am, has been attacked.
(06:11):
Where I find my worth in being a good teacher, and this person is saying I'm not a goodteacher, so it can spiral into all kinds of things.
It might spiral into feelings of failure, it might.
It might go other way.
It might kind of come up as defensiveness.
And I can't take even take this feedback because I'm so like, I'm coming back with like afight to it.
But regardless, it's like very personal attack, it feels like, because my identity hasbeen attacked, not just my job.
(06:35):
Do you see the difference?
If my job is being critiqued, that's one thing.
But if my identity is being questioned, that's a whole nother realm.
And we don't want that.
We don't want our identity to be tied to things that can be shaken.
One other example, parents criticism.
That's something that can kick off the similar identity crisis, right?
So once again, if I find my worth in this role I play or the fact that I'm really good atthis or this character quality, and then a parent comes and is critical of that, rather
(07:03):
than being able to take that critique and consider it and say, man, should I change?
I might instead feel really attacked because once again, it's my identity, my core of whoI am, self-worth that's being attacked.
So what is the answer then?
If we don't want to place our identity in all these things that we so easily do becauseit's so important to us, right?
(07:24):
The reason we place our identity and self-worth in these things is because they're such abig part of what we do.
They're such a big part of who we are.
See how I just use that language without even thinking about it?
This is who I am, right?
And so it's so easy to tie it into, but we have to fight against that.
And the answer is really affirming and...
(07:45):
purposely building up in ourselves and reminding ourselves that my identity is in God andin Christ first and foremost.
Anything else comes underneath that and falls way short of the value of who God says I am.
Okay, so let's talk for a minute.
Well, who does God say that I am?
Let me say a few things and keep in mind as I do these that these things are always trueas long as you are in Christ.
(08:11):
These are all always true.
Nothing can change them.
Okay, they are secure.
So first of all, and this is true of all people are the first three, and then God'schildren are the rest.
So all people are first of all, God's creation, created by a loving God.
Number two, made in the image of God.
Number three, a reality, a sinner, broken and in need of a savior.
(08:35):
So that's true of absolutely everyone.
The rest of these are true of those who are in Christ.
Okay, so if you are in Christ, trusting in him, you are, you're in need of a savior, butyou have
You have a savior, you are redeemed by Christ, loved by God.
You are his child.
You are forgiven and cleansed.
(08:55):
You are clothed in Christ's righteousness.
I gotta pause on that one.
So no matter how good you are any given day or any bad you are any given day when Godlooks at you, he sees Jesus' perfect righteousness.
That's amazing.
Okay, that's amazing.
So clothed in Christ's righteousness.
You are a member of Christ's body, a member of the church, belonging no matter what.
(09:17):
You are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
God himself lives in you.
You are a servant of Christ.
You're serving him.
You are God's ambassador representing him to the world.
You are a citizen of heaven.
That's where our citizenship lies.
And you are an heir of all of Christ's riches in heaven.
(09:41):
Okay, that's a lot.
And if you need to sit and kind of meditate on some of those, I encourage you to do.
We're gonna list this list at teachfortheheart.com slash 334 so you can go back and kindof read through them, think, or just skip back and listen to those a few times.
We're also gonna link to a list that has like 100 of these.
These are just a little high level.
I think I gave you just maybe 10-ish.
(10:02):
There's over 100 of these and they're listed out and you can kind of go through and reallythink through.
These are all the things that I am in Christ.
And the most important thing, as I was saying before, is that nothing can affect these.
Whether you get the best evaluation or you get fired, you are still all of these things.
Whether a parent raves at you, I'm sorry, whether they rave at you or rave about you,whether they're pulling your kids out of your class or you're the most popular teacher in
(10:32):
the school, these are true.
So none of these things, this identity is sure, it is
firm and nothing can shake it, even if the worst scenarios you can imagine happen to you.
It's secure.
Does that mean that every situation is easy to face?
(10:53):
No.
But does it mean it's easier to face?
Absolutely.
Because when these things happen, it's not the core.
My core identity is not shaken because I'm still all these things in Christ and that's whoI am at my core.
It's my job that I need to think about.
you know, what people think that I need to consider, but it's not affecting the core ofwho I am.
(11:14):
So this allows us, this should not allow us to just be like, well, I don't care then, I'mjust gonna be lazy.
No, right?
What this should do is actually give us confidence and freedom in our work.
So coming from a place of I am secure and I am serving Christ, that should allow us tobring excitement and passion and just say, okay.
(11:37):
Because I am secure, yes, I can go out and teach, I can do my best, I can confront theseproblems, and whether it goes great or goes horribly, I'm still serving Christ, and it's
okay.
And that freedom and that security can actually free us to be more creative, to trythings, to weather the ups and the downs, because I am secure, no matter what happens in
(11:59):
these things that I'm facing.
Because of my identity and my worth is safe in Christ.
I can do my best without fearing if I'm gonna fail, without fearing what people think,because even if it goes horribly, my identity is secure.
So just to drive this point home, let's go back and talk about those couple of thoseexamples that we used before and talk about what it looks like if my identity is now in
(12:22):
Christ.
So first of all, I talked about how when I left teaching, I had an identity crisis, okay?
But what I had to do was go back and rebuild my identity, replace it, fix it back onChrist.
And I actually realized teaching had also kind of become like an idol of false God.
And I was putting so much of my worth in that.
So all that combined, I said, no, who I am is not a teacher.
(12:43):
Who I am is a child of God.
Who I am is a servant of Christ.
And God has simply moved my mission for this time.
It has moved from teaching to motherhood for this season of life.
And interestingly, God and part of that process ended up being creating Teach for theHeart.
So God had a plan.
He knew exactly what he was doing, but it was interesting that like, okay, I had to, I hadto unroot my identity from teaching and say, no, my identity is in serving God.
(13:09):
And so then I might still struggle with missing teaching.
I still missed it.
There were still days when I was like, I want to be there.
But I would keep going back to know this is where I am.
This is who I am.
This is what God calls me to.
And I am whole.
I don't need that to be whole.
I'm whole in Him.
And then I can work out of that.
And it is a process.
(13:29):
Doesn't happen all at once, but realizing it is that first step.
Let's talk about a bad evaluation.
Let's say get a bad evaluation and my identity is in Christ this time.
Well, if my identity is in Christ, then I know that I am still his child, I'm still loved,I am still accepted, I'm clothed in his righteousness, I'm an heir of heaven, I'm his
servant, his ambassador.
None of these things are affected by the bad evaluation, okay?
(13:51):
So I'm gonna face this bad evaluation, hopefully first with humility and saying, is theresomething I can learn from this?
And that's easier because I'm not so defensive because my identity isn't shaken.
It's just, my pride might be hurt a little bit.
I might be disappointed.
I might have hoped for something better, but my identity is secure.
So I can face it with humility, say, what can I learn from this?
(14:13):
I can deal with it with subsequent conversations and plans and just go on from there andjust say, I'm gonna do my best to serve God.
And I might, maybe this results in me.
moving schools, then that's because it's God's plan.
Just have so much more confidence and I don't have to take it so personally.
Similar thing with a like parent parental criticism, right?
(14:33):
If they're attacking my identity, I'm real upset.
But if my identity is secure in Christ, it's so much easier to approach it with humility,to listen to their concerns, to be able to dialogue with them in a helpful way.
It's going to help me not to get so defensive and to be able to serve the family and tokeep my composure and maybe even learn something from the process depending on.
depending on how valid the complaint might be.
(14:56):
So I hope that it's been helpful for you to kind of think through what this looks like tohave identity in Christ versus having our identity in things like our role as a teacher or
in how good of a job we're doing.
And I hope that you will just kind of my encouragement to you a couple of encouragementsto end with.
First of all, pray.
If you're realizing, yeah, my identity is in teaching or being a good teacher or my roleas a mom or whatever it is.
(15:18):
Talk to God about it.
Confess that to Him and ask Him to help you put your identity in Him.
So pray about it first.
Secondly, I would say get that list, the one I just gave in the podcast, and we'll have itat teachfortheheart.com slash 334, or we're gonna link to one with even more.
Write some of those things down in a place where you'll see it often and go back over it.
(15:39):
Review it over and over again, so you can kind of cement those things in your heart and inyour mind.
And then I would also love to invite you to an up couple upcoming things here at Teach forthe Heart that I think will be really helpful for you.
First of all, we are having a free training coming up in February called How to StopFeeling Defeated and Teach with Hope Instead.
(16:02):
So if that resonates at all with you, we'd love to have you join us.
You can sign up at teachfortheheart.com slash hope.
So go to teachfortheheart.com slash hope.
And then we're about to unveil a new program.
to help you stop feeling defeated and face each day with hope.
So keep an eye out for that.
We'll announce it on the podcast.
We'll announce it via email.
(16:24):
And we'll announce it to everyone who signs up for the training.
So either way, go to teachfortheheart.com slash hope, sign up, and then keep your eye openfor this upcoming program coming out later on in February.
We would love to have you join us there.
And I think it could be really helpful for you.
Well, thank you guys so much for being here.
If you do find this podcast helpful, please like, subscribe, share with a teacher friendthat is super helpful.
(16:49):
And all the notes and links from this episode are at teachfortheheart.com slash 334.
This episode has been brought to you in partnership with the Herzog Foundation.
All views and opinions are our own and don't necessarily reflect those of the HerzogFoundation.
Well, thank you so much for being with us.
We look forward to being with you again soon.
In the meantime, teacher, remember God is at work in you and through you.
(17:11):
and he's using you to make a difference.
Keep your eyes on him and teach for the heart.
When our worth and our identity is tied to being a great teacher, then we are reallysusceptible and it's easy to get discouraged and frustrated.
But when our identity is placed in Christ, it changes everything and helps us to teachwith hope and joy no matter what.
Welcome back to the Teach for the Heart podcast where we tackle teaching challenges from abiblical perspective.
(00:25):
Why are we here?
because we don't believe that our spiritual walk and teaching profession should exist intwo separate domains.
Rather, the hope we have in Christ should change how we approach everything, not just athome, but at school as well.
So join us as we explore both the spiritual and practical sides of key teachingchallenges, integrating them together so we can succeed at teaching, glorify God, and make
(00:46):
a lasting difference in our students' hearts and lives.
This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Herzog Foundation.
Today I want to talk a little bit about our identity or our self-worth and how as teachersit can be so easy to place that identity in things that are not going to support us.
Things like our teaching or our various roles that we place, that we take, and that canreally lead to a lot of trouble.
(01:14):
So we want to kind of explore what happens when we place our identity in other things andit can be so easy to do.
may not even be realize that we're doing it.
and then what it looks like to place our identity in what God says we are, place it inChrist and the difference that can make, the resilience that that can give us as teachers.
So let's start off by talking about what are some things that we might place our identityand our worth in instead of Christ.
(01:40):
So here's the thing, a lot of times these things that we might find our identity in,they're actually good things, but it's still problematic because it's not the ultimate
thing, which is God.
Here's some things that we might place our identity in.
So you might find a lot of, when I say identity, I'm talking about when I can say like,who am I?
In my core, who am I?
(02:01):
How do I see myself?
What do I feel gives me worth?
That's what we're talking about here.
So we might find it in our roles.
So I might find a lot of identity in the fact that I am a teacher.
That's who I am.
If I'm not a teacher, I don't know who I am.
If you're like, if I'm not this, then I don't know what to do.
then you're placing your identity in that.
So it could be your role.
(02:22):
It could be a role as a teacher.
If you're a wife or a mom or a husband, you might find a lot of identity in that role youplay.
Maybe you put a lot of identity in your role as director of the play or head of whatever.
So sometimes we take those roles and they're a key piece of who we are.
It's not just what we do, it's who we are.
(02:42):
So it could be a role.
We can also sometimes place our identity and our worth in our own abilities or ourqualities.
So in other words, I might find a lot of my self-worth in the fact that I am a goodteacher.
That's very important to me.
And if I'm not a good teacher or someone doesn't think I'm a good teacher, like, that is abig threat to me because that's who I am.
(03:04):
That's where my worth comes from.
That makes sense?
There might be other character qualities or things about us that we really like grab andtake a put place our identity
So we might say like, I'm a really good friend or I'm a good leader or I'm compassionateor I'm strong.
Like there might be a piece of our, like I said, personality or a trait or a strength thatwe have that we really latch onto when we're kind of like, this is who I am.
(03:29):
And we can kind of identify this because if something threatens it, it's not just, I'mstruggling in this area.
It's like a personal attack on who I am.
That's kind of one way we can identify that.
Sometimes we can place our identity in what others think about us.
So sometimes we really what other people say is very, very important to us.
And my identity is tied to how others view me, which I'm that kind of should be obviouslyproblematic because we have no control over what others think.
(03:59):
And so that really leaves us susceptible.
So
Let's talk for a minute, what does it look like when we place our identity or worth insome of these good things?
And it might be something I listed, it might be something different that you might findyour identity tied to.
But regardless, when we place our identity and our worth in these things, our self-worthand our emotions get really tied to how this specific area is going.
(04:23):
So in other words, if I find my identity in being a good teacher, well, when I feel like Iam a good teacher, I'm high.
I'm riding high, everything is great.
But if something causes me to feel like I'm not a good teacher or someone else doesn'tthink I'm a good teacher, I get a bad evaluation, my self-worth and my, it can really,
really plummet because my identity and my worth is tied to that.
(04:44):
And now that this is unsure, this is shaky.
Like I am, I'm not just like a bummer.
I'm in like the depths of despair.
Okay, so it can really, really shake us.
So let me go through a few examples.
So first of all, a personal example.
When I left teaching,
When I became pregnant, my husband and decided I'm going to step away from teaching atleast for a while.
And I had been planning to do that basically my whole life.
(05:07):
So it wasn't anything crazy.
It was what I wanted to do.
However, I had a real identity crisis.
And I really realized, had to face the fact that I had put so much of my identity in beinga teacher.
I looked forward to it.
I dreamed about it.
It was who I am.
That now that I wasn't going to be doing that, I was like...
what is going, like I had a literal like identity crisis.
I was really way more shaken up than I realized.
(05:30):
And I had to kind of go back and realize, wait, this being a teacher is a role that I haveplayed, but it's not who I am.
And I still have worth and I'm still the same person without it.
And I had to root my identity in Christ, which we're gonna talk about how to do in aminute.
But it was really like a, it was very, very tough because I had placed my identity inthat.
Let's give another example.
(05:50):
Let's say that a teacher who's,
Identity is in being a good teacher and their role as a teacher gets a bad evaluation.
Okay, well it's not just, that stinks, I have some things I need to work on.
It's I've been attacked.
And they might not say this out loud, but what's happening inside internally is my veryidentity, who I am, has been attacked.
(06:11):
Where I find my worth in being a good teacher, and this person is saying I'm not a goodteacher, so it can spiral into all kinds of things.
It might spiral into feelings of failure, it might.
It might go other way.
It might kind of come up as defensiveness.
And I can't take even take this feedback because I'm so like, I'm coming back with like afight to it.
But regardless, it's like very personal attack, it feels like, because my identity hasbeen attacked, not just my job.
(06:35):
Do you see the difference?
If my job is being critiqued, that's one thing.
But if my identity is being questioned, that's a whole nother realm.
And we don't want that.
We don't want our identity to be tied to things that can be shaken.
One other example, parents criticism.
That's something that can kick off the similar identity crisis, right?
So once again, if I find my worth in this role I play or the fact that I'm really good atthis or this character quality, and then a parent comes and is critical of that, rather
(07:03):
than being able to take that critique and consider it and say, man, should I change?
I might instead feel really attacked because once again, it's my identity, my core of whoI am, self-worth that's being attacked.
So what is the answer then?
If we don't want to place our identity in all these things that we so easily do becauseit's so important to us, right?
(07:24):
The reason we place our identity and self-worth in these things is because they're such abig part of what we do.
They're such a big part of who we are.
See how I just use that language without even thinking about it?
This is who I am, right?
And so it's so easy to tie it into, but we have to fight against that.
And the answer is really affirming and...
(07:45):
purposely building up in ourselves and reminding ourselves that my identity is in God andin Christ first and foremost.
Anything else comes underneath that and falls way short of the value of who God says I am.
Okay, so let's talk for a minute.
Well, who does God say that I am?
Let me say a few things and keep in mind as I do these that these things are always trueas long as you are in Christ.
(08:11):
These are all always true.
Nothing can change them.
Okay, they are secure.
So first of all, and this is true of all people are the first three, and then God'schildren are the rest.
So all people are first of all, God's creation, created by a loving God.
Number two, made in the image of God.
Number three, a reality, a sinner, broken and in need of a savior.
(08:35):
So that's true of absolutely everyone.
The rest of these are true of those who are in Christ.
Okay, so if you are in Christ, trusting in him, you are, you're in need of a savior, butyou have
You have a savior, you are redeemed by Christ, loved by God.
You are his child.
You are forgiven and cleansed.
(08:55):
You are clothed in Christ's righteousness.
I gotta pause on that one.
So no matter how good you are any given day or any bad you are any given day when Godlooks at you, he sees Jesus' perfect righteousness.
That's amazing.
Okay, that's amazing.
So clothed in Christ's righteousness.
You are a member of Christ's body, a member of the church, belonging no matter what.
(09:17):
You are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
God himself lives in you.
You are a servant of Christ.
You're serving him.
You are God's ambassador representing him to the world.
You are a citizen of heaven.
That's where our citizenship lies.
And you are an heir of all of Christ's riches in heaven.
(09:41):
Okay, that's a lot.
And if you need to sit and kind of meditate on some of those, I encourage you to do.
We're gonna list this list at teachfortheheart.com slash 334 so you can go back and kindof read through them, think, or just skip back and listen to those a few times.
We're also gonna link to a list that has like 100 of these.
These are just a little high level.
I think I gave you just maybe 10-ish.
(10:02):
There's over 100 of these and they're listed out and you can kind of go through and reallythink through.
These are all the things that I am in Christ.
And the most important thing, as I was saying before, is that nothing can affect these.
Whether you get the best evaluation or you get fired, you are still all of these things.
Whether a parent raves at you, I'm sorry, whether they rave at you or rave about you,whether they're pulling your kids out of your class or you're the most popular teacher in
(10:32):
the school, these are true.
So none of these things, this identity is sure, it is
firm and nothing can shake it, even if the worst scenarios you can imagine happen to you.
It's secure.
Does that mean that every situation is easy to face?
(10:53):
No.
But does it mean it's easier to face?
Absolutely.
Because when these things happen, it's not the core.
My core identity is not shaken because I'm still all these things in Christ and that's whoI am at my core.
It's my job that I need to think about.
you know, what people think that I need to consider, but it's not affecting the core ofwho I am.
(11:14):
So this allows us, this should not allow us to just be like, well, I don't care then, I'mjust gonna be lazy.
No, right?
What this should do is actually give us confidence and freedom in our work.
So coming from a place of I am secure and I am serving Christ, that should allow us tobring excitement and passion and just say, okay.
(11:37):
Because I am secure, yes, I can go out and teach, I can do my best, I can confront theseproblems, and whether it goes great or goes horribly, I'm still serving Christ, and it's
okay.
And that freedom and that security can actually free us to be more creative, to trythings, to weather the ups and the downs, because I am secure, no matter what happens in
(11:59):
these things that I'm facing.
Because of my identity and my worth is safe in Christ.
I can do my best without fearing if I'm gonna fail, without fearing what people think,because even if it goes horribly, my identity is secure.
So just to drive this point home, let's go back and talk about those couple of thoseexamples that we used before and talk about what it looks like if my identity is now in
(12:22):
Christ.
So first of all, I talked about how when I left teaching, I had an identity crisis, okay?
But what I had to do was go back and rebuild my identity, replace it, fix it back onChrist.
And I actually realized teaching had also kind of become like an idol of false God.
And I was putting so much of my worth in that.
So all that combined, I said, no, who I am is not a teacher.
(12:43):
Who I am is a child of God.
Who I am is a servant of Christ.
And God has simply moved my mission for this time.
It has moved from teaching to motherhood for this season of life.
And interestingly, God and part of that process ended up being creating Teach for theHeart.
So God had a plan.
He knew exactly what he was doing, but it was interesting that like, okay, I had to, I hadto unroot my identity from teaching and say, no, my identity is in serving God.
(13:09):
And so then I might still struggle with missing teaching.
I still missed it.
There were still days when I was like, I want to be there.
But I would keep going back to know this is where I am.
This is who I am.
This is what God calls me to.
And I am whole.
I don't need that to be whole.
I'm whole in Him.
And then I can work out of that.
And it is a process.
(13:29):
Doesn't happen all at once, but realizing it is that first step.
Let's talk about a bad evaluation.
Let's say get a bad evaluation and my identity is in Christ this time.
Well, if my identity is in Christ, then I know that I am still his child, I'm still loved,I am still accepted, I'm clothed in his righteousness, I'm an heir of heaven, I'm his
servant, his ambassador.
None of these things are affected by the bad evaluation, okay?
(13:51):
So I'm gonna face this bad evaluation, hopefully first with humility and saying, is theresomething I can learn from this?
And that's easier because I'm not so defensive because my identity isn't shaken.
It's just, my pride might be hurt a little bit.
I might be disappointed.
I might have hoped for something better, but my identity is secure.
So I can face it with humility, say, what can I learn from this?
(14:13):
I can deal with it with subsequent conversations and plans and just go on from there andjust say, I'm gonna do my best to serve God.
And I might, maybe this results in me.
moving schools, then that's because it's God's plan.
Just have so much more confidence and I don't have to take it so personally.
Similar thing with a like parent parental criticism, right?
(14:33):
If they're attacking my identity, I'm real upset.
But if my identity is secure in Christ, it's so much easier to approach it with humility,to listen to their concerns, to be able to dialogue with them in a helpful way.
It's going to help me not to get so defensive and to be able to serve the family and tokeep my composure and maybe even learn something from the process depending on.
depending on how valid the complaint might be.
(14:56):
So I hope that it's been helpful for you to kind of think through what this looks like tohave identity in Christ versus having our identity in things like our role as a teacher or
in how good of a job we're doing.
And I hope that you will just kind of my encouragement to you a couple of encouragementsto end with.
First of all, pray.
If you're realizing, yeah, my identity is in teaching or being a good teacher or my roleas a mom or whatever it is.
(15:18):
Talk to God about it.
Confess that to Him and ask Him to help you put your identity in Him.
So pray about it first.
Secondly, I would say get that list, the one I just gave in the podcast, and we'll have itat teachfortheheart.com slash 334, or we're gonna link to one with even more.
Write some of those things down in a place where you'll see it often and go back over it.
(15:39):
Review it over and over again, so you can kind of cement those things in your heart and inyour mind.
And then I would also love to invite you to an up couple upcoming things here at Teach forthe Heart that I think will be really helpful for you.
First of all, we are having a free training coming up in February called How to StopFeeling Defeated and Teach with Hope Instead.
(16:02):
So if that resonates at all with you, we'd love to have you join us.
You can sign up at teachfortheheart.com slash hope.
So go to teachfortheheart.com slash hope.
And then we're about to unveil a new program.
to help you stop feeling defeated and face each day with hope.
So keep an eye out for that.
We'll announce it on the podcast.
We'll announce it via email.
(16:24):
And we'll announce it to everyone who signs up for the training.
So either way, go to teachfortheheart.com slash hope, sign up, and then keep your eye openfor this upcoming program coming out later on in February.
We would love to have you join us there.
And I think it could be really helpful for you.
Well, thank you guys so much for being here.
If you do find this podcast helpful, please like, subscribe, share with a teacher friendthat is super helpful.
(16:49):
And all the notes and links from this episode are at teachfortheheart.com slash 334.
This episode has been brought to you in partnership with the Herzog Foundation.
All views and opinions are our own and don't necessarily reflect those of the HerzogFoundation.
Well, thank you so much for being with us.
We look forward to being with you again soon.
In the meantime, teacher, remember God is at work in you and through you.
(17:11):
and he's using you to make a difference.
Keep your eyes on him and teach for the heart.
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