Craig Groeschel - Altar Ego: Becoming Who God Says You Are

You are not yet who you are supposed to be.

The day I realized this truth was the day that changed my life.

Ill never forget the moment in college when I looked in the mirror and didnt like the person I saw looking back at me. As I glared into my hungover, depressed eyes on a cool, fall Saturday morning, I felt like I barely knew the guy trapped inside my reflection.

How did I end up here? Why did I do what I did last night? How did I become the person that I am?

Somehow Id managed to fool a lot of people for a long time. To my teachers, I was a good student. To my parents, I was a good boy. To my college teammates, I was a good athlete. To my party friends, I was a good time.

For my whole life, Id worked to protect my good reputation and be what everyone else wanted me to be. What do you think of me? Do you like me? Am I good enough? Do I measure up?

Do you ever ask questions like those? Do you work hard to please people, impress people, earn other peoples love and respect? Do you worry about what people think as you labor to protect your reputation?

The problem is that your reputation is not who you really are. Your reputation is who others think you are. Your character is who you really are.

On that unforgettable Saturday morning, I finally surrendered to the painful truth. Though my reputation was good, my character was not.

Leadership genius John Maxwell said, The best definition of success is that those who know you the best, love and respect you the most. On that dark morning as I stared into the lifeless eyes reflected in the mirror, I realized that those who knew me the least, loved and respected me the most. Those who knew me best well, no one but me knew the real me. No one knew me better than I knew myself. And not only did I not love or respect myself, I despised myself.

Many had labeled me a good person, but nothing could be farther from the truth. I wasnt good. I was a liar, breaking promises and telling half-truths whenever it served my purposes. I was a thief, taking what didnt belong to me to improve my standard of living. I was a cheater, using cheat sheets on tests or betraying girlfriends when someone prettier came along. Truth be known, I was an all-around jerk. The only thing I was good at was fooling people.

But I wasnt fooling God. And I wasnt fooling myself. And thats when it dawned on me.

You are not yet who you are supposed to be.

I was attempting to live for the approval of others rather than from the approval of God. My ego, that self-constructed identity I worked so hard to build, came from a twisted combination of my accomplishments and other peoples opinions of me. If you liked me, I felt good. If you didnt, I felt bad. If I succeeded, won, or made the grade, I felt worth something. If I fell short, lost, or failed, I felt worthless. I loved myself just as conditionally as I assumed everyone else did. That Saturday morning, I realized I didnt have to continue this way. Someone did love me unconditionally. Enough to die for me.

If youve ever felt insecure, inadequate, or insufficient, this book is for you. Chances are good that you are like most of us. You attempt to draw worth or value from the wrong places. Youre inclined to believe what others say about you over what God says about you. You say you believe one thing but privately live out of a double-standard set of beliefs. If you call yourself a Christian, you probably hope to live a life pleasing to God but often find yourself trying to please others or yourself.

If you can relate, Ive got great news.

You are not yet who you are supposed to be.

Instead of living with an ego that is outward-driven and based on other peoples approval, were going to discover how to live with an altar ego. Thats not a typo. Im not talking about an alter ego like a superhero has to protect his real identity (Superman posing as Clark Kent). Im talking about an ALTAR ego. Through Gods Word, well learn to sacrifice our worldly self-image and let God replace it with his view of us. Rather than defining our worth by who we are in the opinions of others, well live from the truth of who we are in Christ. Well place all of the false labels and selfish motives on the altar of Gods truth and discover who we really are as his sons and daughters.

In this book, Ill show you specifically who God says you are. You are his masterpiece, created perfectly in his image to do what he planned in advance for you to do. You are an overcomer, able to handle all of lifes challenges by the inward strength of God through his Holy Spirit. You are an ambassador, sent by God from heaven to earth to represent him. You are not who others say you are. You are who God says you are.

As you discover your true identity in Christ, your altar ego will drive your actions, empowering you to live according to Gods higher values, not according to the lower values of this world. Then, when you know who you are, youll live with a deep confidence in Gods calling. Rather than living a timid, halfhearted, shallow cultural Christianity, youll boldly live in the confidence of the God who believes in you.

Are you willing to lay it all on the altar?

Almost twenty-five years ago, I stared into the mirror and couldnt stand the person that I saw looking back at me. At the time, I had no idea how those few moments would change the trajectory of my life. Even though I hated who I was, I discovered hope that I could become who I was meant to be. But for the first time in my life, I knew I couldnt do it on my own. I didnt need to try harder. I didnt need to turn over a new leaf. I didnt need to pick myself up by my bootstraps and give myself a pep talk. I needed to die to myself. And to let Christ live in me.

And in a series of events that only God could have orchestrated, thats what I did. Alone on a softball field less than a hundred yards from my solitary showdown in the mirror, I knelt before a holy God and then stood up as a very different person. Just outside the dugout on the third base side of the field, I unknowingly made the ground of well-worn grass into an altar. Kneeling before God, I left the old Craig Groeschel behind. From that moment on, I was never alone again. Christ was with me. Living in me. Loving me. Changing me.

The apostle Paul said, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me (Gal. 2:20). Thats what happened to me. By faith, my old life was gone, crucified with Christ. All the lies, all the cheating, all the stealing were forgiven and gone.

I no longer needed others to define who I was. Christ became my identity.

Although God transformed me spiritually in a moment, it has taken me years to grasp who I am as a child of God, and its an ongoing process.

To learn who I am, Ive had to learn who I am not.

You are not what others think about you.

You are not your past.

You are not what you did.

You are who God says you are.

If you are not a follower of Christ, my goal is to help you become one. If you are a Christian, then my prayer is that God will use this book to help you live with an altar ego. If youre ready to start becoming who you were meant to be, this book is for you.