Reject & Replace: The Key to Protecting Your Identity

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There was a sudden tug in my spirit to go sit with the Lord in the secret place of prayer, and immediately I heard the Lord say to my heart, This is important. I placed the last dirty dish in the dishwasher, and made my way to my bedroom, closing the door behind me. (But when you pray, go into your room {away by yourself}, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.-Matthew 6:6)
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Thus began an encounter with the Lord as I sat on my bed, my prayer instrumental music playlist pouring through my headphones. Holy Spirit brought me back to a moment in my childhood that I didn’t realize had been absolutely detrimental to the way that I viewed myself. This one hurtful comment from a family member had completely wrecked my self-esteem.
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“I don’t like your personality.” 
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 It destroyed the confident, bubbly, silly, joyful out-going girl that I was, and instilled in me a fear of man {people}, causing me to become very cautious and inwardly focused.  
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My mother walked me through that tearful childhood moment, teaching me the importance of forgiveness, which I will be forever grateful for. I forgave from my heart, let any resentfulness go, and the sting of that moment healed over time. 
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Kind of.
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This is important…  
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As I sat with the Lord, He took me through that entire scenario again, but this time, my spiritual eyes were open. I could see the unclean spirit influencing that family member to speak that curse over me. I could feel the glee of the kingdom of darkness, sickeningly proud of themselves for successfully striking what they viewed as a critical blow to my destiny. The whole scheme was set up to cause me to question and doubt, and even despise, the very person God had created me to be so I could accomplish the works He had for me. And they used my own family member to do it. (“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”-Ephesians 6:12)
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God began to speak to me as I sat with Him, that although I had forgiven the hurt, and I wasn’t holding on to any pain, I had never actually dealt with the ramifications of that moment. That moment was the foothold the devil used to steal my boldness. The boldness God had given me to fulfill my purpose. 
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So what to do? When the Holy Spirit brings up a painful moment from your past, allows you to feel and face that moment once again, it is not to harm you. It is not to rebuke you because He is mad at you for not properly dealing with old wounds. 
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It is to bring complete healing. 
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The Holy Spirit is the perfect counselor, and here is what He taught me in that session. It is the key to protecting yourself from the lies of the enemy. (In this case, a lie about my identity.)
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1) When someone speaks a lie (curse) over your identity, you must identify it as a lie and reject it. The lie will be caught by running it through the filter of Scripture. 

2) You must replace the lie with truth from the Word of God. This will set you free.
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Although I “let the lie go” as a child, I never replaced it by speaking the truth. And therefore, the effects of those words were allowed to fester and grow underneath the surface, almost imperceptibly my entire life. I even fueled them as I grew older, coming into alignment with their work more and more by saying things like, “I don’t have a personality.” “I’m not a fun person.” “There’s nothing unique or special about me.” 
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So now that we know the enemy works in this way, here is what it looks like to do as Holy Spirit showed me: to reject & replace.  

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Attack: “You have a terrible personality.”  

Defense: Rejected! Because…

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“God created my innermost being; He knit me together in my mother’s womb. I am fearfully and wonderfully made!” (Psalm 139:13-14)

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“I am God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,” (Ephesians 2:10)

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Attack: “You are not lovable.” 

Defense: Rejected! Because…

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“God has loved me with an everlasting love…” (Jeremiah 31:3)

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"God takes great delight in me; He quiets me with his love, He rejoices over me with singing." (Zephaniah 3:17)

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Attack: “You’re ugly.”  

Defense: Rejected! Because…

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“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but I am a woman {or a man} who fears the Lord, therefore I am to be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30)

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"People look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)

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Now does this mean we are never to strive to become more mature in the Lord in the way that we behave or take care of our bodies? Of course not. But this rejecting and replacing will work as a shield for us while we are growing into all that Christ has called us to be. 
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To do this, you HAVE to know what the Word of God says. So I challenge you today to start increasing your arsenal by reading the Bible every single day if you’re not. 

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“‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”-Matthew 4:4