We wrestle with imposter syndrome—doubting the identity God gives us after he rescues us—and that’s the main thing I want to tackle here. I’m keeping this episode short and encouraging: I point out how people take verses like Jeremiah 17:9 or 1 Timothy 1:15 out of context and live defeated, when Scripture also makes plain that in Christ we are adopted, justified, and made new. We need a balanced view: yes, the Bible teaches sin, but it also teaches our original goodness and that God has made us his workmanship (Eph. 2). I ask you to consider whether your thoughts are oriented toward victory or defeat, to practice remembering who you are in Christ (maybe with verse cards or memorization), and to look outside yourself—help others hold to their identity too. My hope is that we leave guilt and shame behind long enough to live into the freedom of being God’s children, and I hope this gives you a little rest for the week as you walk with Jesus.
Apple Podcasts 
Spotify 
RSS Feed 
iHeartRadio SUMMARY/INTRO:
We wrestle with imposter syndrome—doubting the identity God gives us after he rescues us—and that’s the main thing I want to tackle here. I’m keeping this episode short and encouraging: I point out how people take verses like Jeremiah 17:9 or 1 Timothy 1:15 out of context and live defeated, when Scripture also makes plain that in Christ we are adopted, justified, and made new. We need a balanced view: yes, the Bible teaches sin, but it also teaches our original goodness and that God has made us his workmanship (Eph. 2). I ask you to consider whether your thoughts are oriented toward victory or defeat, to practice remembering who you are in Christ (maybe with verse cards or memorization), and to look outside yourself—help others hold to their identity too. My hope is that we leave guilt and shame behind long enough to live into the freedom of being God’s children, and I hope this gives you a little rest for the week as you walk with Jesus.
——————————
SHOW NOTES:
Do you ever feel like you’re not good enough for God?
In this episode of The Prodigal Journey, Ben explores what he calls “imposter syndrome”—the struggle to believe what God says about who we are after becoming followers of Christ.
It can be easy to focus so heavily on our sin, guilt, and shame that we forget what God has already done. Ben examines passages including Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3, 1 Timothy 1, and Ephesians 2 and challenges listeners to look at the full biblical picture rather than allowing isolated verses to define their identity.
Yes, Scripture speaks honestly about sin. But it also tells us that those who follow Christ are forgiven, justified, adopted, made new, and created in God’s image. We are God’s workmanship, created to reflect His goodness in the world.
This short episode is an encouragement to stop defining yourself solely by your failures and begin believing what God says about you.
As you go through your week, consider whether your thoughts are oriented toward defeat or victory, how you can live in a way that reflects being made in God’s image, and what practical steps can help you fight feelings of guilt and shame.
TAKEAWAYS:
- Imposter syndrome can cause us to doubt what God says about our identity.
- Focusing only on our sin can cause guilt and shame to become the foundation of our identity.
- Scripture must be understood in context rather than by isolating individual verses.
- The Bible speaks honestly about sin while also declaring God’s grace and what He has done for those who follow Christ.
- Believers are described as God’s children, adopted, justified, and made new in Christ.
- We are created in God’s image and described as God’s workmanship.
- Our identity should be shaped by what God has done and is doing, not simply by what we think we need to do.
- Living in victory doesn’t mean ignoring sin; it means holding sin, repentance, grace, and our identity in Christ together.
- God’s love and correction are not contradictory.
- Fighting guilt and shame can include intentionally reminding ourselves of what God says about our identity and encouraging others who struggle with the same.
REFLECTION & APPLICATION:
- Is your thought process oriented more toward victory or defeat?
- When you feel unworthy, how can you change your thinking and actions to reflect that you are made in the image of God?
- What practical steps can you take to fight feelings of guilt and shame?
Consider writing down or memorizing Scripture that reminds you of what God says about your identity, and look for opportunities to encourage someone else who is struggling with their identity.
SCRIPTURES MENTIONED:
——————————
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Show & Topic Intro
01:31 — Imposter Syndrome & Our Identity in Christ
02:43 — Sin, Shame & Taking Scripture in Context
08:09 — Reflection & Application
——————————
Thank you for supporting conversations about Faith. Struggle. Becoming.
If this conversation encouraged you, you can support the podcast here:
——————————
Affiliate Links:
I host my podcast with Captivate, the world's only growth-oriented podcast host™ - you can too, and get your first 7-days on me! Use my affiliate link below to get your free trial and it helps the podcast.
https://www.captivate.fm/signup?ref=nte5ndk
Speaker A
Welcome to Oasis, a place of rest along this journey.
Speaker A
Welcome to our new bonus episode called Oasis.
Speaker A
These are going to be shorter episodes, about three to five minutes.
Speaker A
Somewhere in that timeframe, hopefully, is my goal.
Speaker A
But as we just kind of think about the regular episodes we do are very usually a little longer and tend to be very deep episodes that just have a lot of weight to them.
Speaker A
Even though we do talk about encouraging things through the episodes as well, they just tend to be heavy sometimes.
Speaker A
So these shorter bonus episodes are going to be sprinkled in throughout the week as well as the other longer episodes.
Speaker A
But these shorter ones, which I'm calling Oasis, are just meant to be be encouraging as you go through your week.
Speaker A
And just short things to think about.
Speaker A
As we think about walking with Jesus and how he wants us to think about ourselves and our journey.
Speaker A
And sometimes when we're on this journey through the wilderness, we just need moments of Oasis that give us rest, some shelter from the heat and the busyness of life.
Speaker A
So that's kind of my goal with these shorter episodes.
Speaker A
All right, let's dive into this first one, which I'm calling Imposter Syndrome.
Speaker A
And as we think about this word, imposter syndrome, we often struggle to believe what God says we are when he rescues us and we become his followers.
Speaker A
We just struggle to recognize our true identities.
Speaker A
And we often struggle with this imposter syndrome, which sometimes can look like many different things, such as just thinking we're not good enough for God to rescue.
Speaker A
We think we need to do more in order to better our standing with Christ, or we just allow that guilt and shame to drive our identities.
Speaker A
And when you think about even just the few I've listed, those focus only on us and what we need to do.
Speaker A
And so a lot of times when we struggle with this imposter syndrome, it focuses on who we are and what we have to do.
Speaker A
But when we start to have thoughts about our identity and when we start to question what God thinks of us, we need to ask ourselves, is my thought about what I need to do, or is it about what God has already done and is doing in my life?
Speaker A
So how do we have a balanced view of our identities?
Speaker A
And how do we live in this victory and not always be defeated?
Speaker A
And one thing that just kind of made me think about this episode was I've just heard some verses lately being taken out of context that just leave people living in defeat.
Speaker A
So I want to address some of that and leave you with some encouragement for your week.
Speaker A
The one verse in particular I'm thinking of is Jeremiah 17:9 that I've heard talked about a little bit from some people lately.
Speaker A
And it says the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
Speaker A
Who can know it?
Speaker A
And a lot of times people take this verse and also throw it in with first Timothy one, which I'll read in a second.
Speaker A
And they use those verses to just say, we are the worst sinners and we're just such wicked people.
Speaker A
But when you think of Jeremiah and the context of what that was being written to there is while that is true, what's being said.
Speaker A
He's talking about people who are not living lives of faith and who Jesus said he was and what he said he would do.
Speaker A
So he's addressing people who are not living lives of faith.
Speaker A
You know, he tells us God knows the heart.
Speaker A
You know, Romans 1 and 3, we talk about all have sinned, no one is righteous.
Speaker A
And this is true.
Speaker A
This is true of us even as believers who follow Jesus as his disciple.
Speaker A
But in other places, as you look at just the whole context of everything together, Paul also talks about a pattern of sin and people who have not been changed by the power of the gospel.
Speaker A
So we have to look at everything in that context and not just cherry pick a few verses for what we want it to mean.
Speaker A
Yes, Romans does tell us all have sinned, but in farther down in the chapter, in verse 22 of chapter three, it says we are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.
Speaker A
And then verse 24, yet God in his grace freely makes us right in his sight.
Speaker A
So we can't miss those as well.
Speaker A
I mentioned First Timothy 1, verses 15 and 16.
Speaker A
Some translations say Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.
Speaker A
Another translation says I was shown mercy, so that in me the worst of sinners.
Speaker A
And a lot of translations get this wrong in the fact that the, the actual translation there is not worst but protoss in the Greek language.
Speaker A
And that word is translated chief or foremost.
Speaker A
And in this translation it is referring to something of.
Speaker A
He's referring to something of primary significance or an example.
Speaker A
So Paul was not saying they're the worst of sinners.
Speaker A
He was using that to say that Christ showed him mercy as him being someone who is opposed to salvation.
Speaker A
And Paul was saying he was an example of Christ's patience to someone who believes.
Speaker A
And a lot of times that verse is taken out of context in this mindset of like, I'm the worst of sinners and we need to live in that.
Speaker A
But I believe There's a balance to our identities.
Speaker A
And many times we see people so focused on that doctrine of sin that they miss the goodness that God created us for.
Speaker A
And there are others who swing the other way and are so focused on the goodness and the happiness that they completely miss the doctrine of sin and the need for repentance and confession.
Speaker A
So we can live in that tension of both, knowing that both are talked about in the Scriptures.
Speaker A
So yes, the Bible says we are sinners, but also Ephesians 2, 4.
Speaker A
But God, who was rich in his mercy, and he loved us so much that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.
Speaker A
So God says, and you know in other places too, that once someone calls on his name and because becomes his follower, we are his children.
Speaker A
He says, we are adopted, we're justified, we're a new creation.
Speaker A
And we stand before the throne washed clean, as if we had never sinned.
Speaker A
We are created in God's image.
Speaker A
And that goes all the way back to Genesis.
Speaker A
Ephesians 2, verse 10 says, we are God's masterpiece or his workmanship.
Speaker A
He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Speaker A
So I don't think that you can truly believe the doctrine of original sin without believing the doctrine of original goodness.
Speaker A
Because before there was sin, God had created everything to reflect his glory.
Speaker A
And we are his masterpiece.
Speaker A
We were created to reflect his goodness in the world.
Speaker A
So when we struggle with that thinking of imposter syndrome, or thinking we're not good enough or that we have to do more, we miss God's image in us and we make it about ourselves.
Speaker A
And we doubt that his sacrifice was enough on the cross, and we doubt what he says about us.
Speaker A
I find that sometimes it's easy.
Speaker A
It's very easy to focus on that doctrine of sin and know that we are sinners.
Speaker A
But it's hard for us sometimes to believe what God truly says about us once we become his follower and his disciple.
Speaker A
So I just want to leave you with a few questions to think about through your week.
Speaker A
The first one is, is your thought process oriented towards victory or defeat?
Speaker A
Yes.
Speaker A
We are commanded to confess our sin and we are told that God will forgive us if we confess.
Speaker A
But I don't believe that our hearts are always oriented towards sin.
Speaker A
When we believe about ourselves what God says about us, we're living in victory.
Speaker A
And we can see that throughout Scripture that there's ways that we reflect his glory.
Speaker A
Another question to think about when you face thoughts of being unworthy.
Speaker A
How can you change your thinking and actions to reflect someone who is made in the image of God?
Speaker A
And then the last question to think about.
Speaker A
In what practical ways can you fight feelings of guilt and shame?
Speaker A
Maybe that looks like writing on some note cards or some verses or memorizing some verses that reaffirm what God says about your identity.
Speaker A
Or maybe, you know, it's looking outside of yourself and, and finding others who are struggling with their identities and help reaffirm what God says about their identities as well.
Speaker A
There's so many other ways that we can fight this feeling of imposter syndrome and the guilt and the shame.
Speaker A
And it can be difficult sometimes.
Speaker A
But I believe that we can believe and live out what God says about us once we become people who are followers of Christ.
Speaker A
And just like you would talk about your children, if you have children, just think about that image and the ways that you talk about your children, how you love them, you are for them, and how, yes, you do have to correct wrong behavior and sinful behavior in their lives, but you love them.
Speaker A
And just how you would talk about your children in those ways is the way that God sees us.
Speaker A
And he loves us and he is for us.
Speaker A
And when we believe what he says about us, we can live in victory.
Speaker A
All right.
Speaker A
I hope you are encouraged by some of that as you go through your week.
Speaker A
Join us next time for the next episode of Oasis.
