Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Battling Imposter Syndrome with the Gospel | New Testament | Galatians 4

Episode Date: May 16, 2023

In today's episode, Tanya explores the relationship between eggs benedict and imposter syndrome, and how they relate to the Bible's teachings on identity and self-validation. Find out how seeking validation from others instead of God can lead to imposter syndrome, and discover the solution to this problem, according to Galatians 4.  Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Galatians 4

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. What do eggs Benedict and imposter syndrome have in common? I'm going to tell you in a little bit, but first I just want to make sure you know neither eggs, Benedict, or imposter syndrome are in the Bible. But the reality of people facing tension about who they were and where they found their validation and hope is definitely in the Bible.

and we're going to talk about that today. So where are we? The book of Galatians, where Paul is writing a letter to the people in the Galatian Church who are facing a crisis over the real gospel. They are tempted to create a false gospel and add to the one that they've heard. Instead of teaching that Jesus is more, what they're saying sounds more like, Jesus plus more is more. Even though Paul can't literally be with the new and growing churches all the time,

He does his best to be alongside them in his letters. He offers encouragement and wisdom. He delivers the truth. His words, well, they probably smart a little, because they hit on weak areas and concerning areas so that people can grow. But he's also honest about his own struggle so they don't feel alone. They hopefully don't even feel like he's talking down to them. The goal is straightforward, that they will all collectively grow in their knowledge and love for Jesus Christ.

When Paul was right into the Galatians, they must have been having a bit of an identity crisis. Even though they heard and believed Jesus was the Messiah, that Jesus was the promised king who delivered them from their greatest problem, sin. They were struggling to remember that their new hope was in him and was not in the law, or in keeping the law. In chapter 4, Paul was hitting on a weak spot about where the Galatians would receive their validation.

Would it be in what he called the elementary principles of the world, or in the redeeming work of Jesus, who qualified them to be sons and heirs of the kingdom. When we have an identity crisis, well, we tend to find ways to distinguish ourselves. So we divide people into categories. Those who do things like us and those who should be doing things like us. And the Galatians, well, they were trying to make categories of people who were doing the right things to be Christians. and those, well, who should be doing the right things to be Christians. And Paul came in to say, hang on, why are we talking about this again?

It's not like that anymore, because Jesus completely fulfilled the law. We're putting our hope in him, not making up new ways to distinguish ourselves. Today, we still have a little voice we carry around with us that says, Jesus isn't enough. The voice that tells us that our real selves need to stay hidden behind the curtain somewhere while we put on outside things to look better. For people who have heard and believe in the gospel, I think it comes from misplacing or forgetting what Paul says,

starting in Galatians chapter 4, verse 4. Paul says, when the fullness of time would come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. This is Paul, angry in the Galatians and the truth of who they are. There are people redeemed from the search for self-validation, and they're brought into the family of God.

But we tend to abandon biblical truth and kingdom belonging in our quest for identity, or while we support others' quest for identity. And I promise a story about Eggs Benedict. This is where I tell you about where I look for identity and approval, not in breakfast per se, but in going along to get along, so people will like and accept me. You see, in a conversation that started out with chickens and moved into the price of eggs and yolks versus,

whites. I was talking about how I really, really hate the smell, the sight and the taste of egg yolks. But last weekend, I agreed to split an order of eggs Benedict when I met a friend out for lunch. Tanya, my other friend said, that's crazy. Why didn't you advocate for yourself? You see, at the intersection of self-awareness and self-esteem, what others want from me always wins. I'm not going to find the answer for this within myself. and neither will you, at least not the way the self-help books say we will. When we're looking for validation, when we're looking for approval, we're looking for our creator, the one who put the need for validation within us so that he could completely

fill it. Have you heard the saying, we all have a God-size hole in our heart? That's what we're talking about here. We seek validation because the essence of it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, who whispers to our soul that we are okay with God, that we belong to him. This has Paul so worked up concerning the Galatians that he says he feels like he might even have been laboring in vain. They're trying to fill that hole with the old practices of the law. When there's tension about how to worship and how to pray, they aren't advocating for the true gospel but are being enslaved to what Paul calls the element for principles.

They're going back to believing you have to become a Jew and do things like a Jew before or you can be a real Christian. There's a solution to this problem. And Paul makes it really clear in verses 6 and 7. We've already been given the solution. Paul says, and I imagine fairly passionately, he says, And since you are sons,

God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts crying, Abba, father. So you are no longer a slave but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God. See, the Holy Spirit testifies within you that you already are validated and accepted by God. You know this is true, when you want to pray, when you're bent toward prayer, worship, when you're searching your Bible for truth, but we enslave ourselves when we look to other things for validation,

our friend's approval, the way people review our work, the body language people give us when we're talking. We put things out into the world and we look to the world to tell us who we are and how we're doing. but the gospel offers us a better way and a better life. We're invited by God to constantly talk to him about who we are and allow him to remind us we are his, that we are free to live and work and play and eat without looking for approval. We can say to God, in honesty,

I know I'm probably going to botch this again, and I'm going to need to ask you again, and I'm going to need to be reminded again, but you are my good father. You treat me like a child you love. You will forgive me. You will restore me. Your truth will anchor me. You will renew me with your unending patience. I have found my family in you. My identity was secured at the cross. I am forever validated, forever adopted, forever welcomed, forever loved. If you'd like to jot down a verse to remind you, Paul shared similar words in Galatians and in Romans 815. for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba, Father, and then a couple of questions,

especially for those of you who are sharing these episodes with each other and talking about where you're growing. Here you go. Do you find it difficult to imagine that you've been accepted in a God's family as an heir? Why is that hard for you? Have you developed deep and honest relationships with people who are also following, following Jesus? What steps could you take to form those relationships? And how can you encourage one another to lay aside the pretences and pray for the real things and the difficult things that are actually happening? How can you help each other lean on Jesus as the real source of

belonging and validation? Before you forget, sign up for the brand new TMBT newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that will help you beat the midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.