Series Theme: Identity Crisis:  Discovering Who You Are in God!
Main Scripture Focus: 1 Peter 2:9 & Romans 8:37

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
Series Purpose: To help believers recognize and overcome the false labels, past experiences, relationships, failures, rejection, and circumstances that can distort their understanding of who they are in Christ.

Lesson 2 — More Than Where You Came From

Breaking Free from a Background-Based Identity

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Central Verse: “Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.” Judges 11:1

 

Background Scriptures                                                                                   

Judges 11:1–11, 29–40; Joshua 2:1–21; Hebrews 11:31–34; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 1:4; Ephesians 2:10

 

Lesson Purpose

The purpose of this lesson is to help believers recognize the danger of allowing their family background, parentage, socioeconomic status, rejection, reputation, or past circumstances to become their identity. Through the lives of Jephthah and Rahab, we will discover that our beginnings do not have to determine our endings. God can take people from difficult, humble, and even rejected circumstances and use them for His purpose.

 

Key Terms

• Identity — Who a person is and how they understand their worth and purpose.

• Background-Based Identity — Allowing family history, parentage, socioeconomic status, upbringing, or past circumstances to define who you are.

• Rejection — Being refused, excluded, or pushed away.

• Humble Beginnings — Starting life under difficult, limited, or unfavorable circumstances.

• Misplaced Identity — Finding your value in something other than God.

• Grudge — Ongoing resentment or bitterness because of a past wrong.

• Redemption — God's ability to bring purpose, restoration, and good out of what was broken or painful.

• Valour — Courage, strength, and bravery.

 

Introduction

Identity Crisis:  An identity crisis in a biblical sense happens when a person bases their self-worth on temporary worldly things instead of their permanent identity as a child of God. While the term "identity crisis" is a modern psychological concept, the Bible addresses the underlying spiritual condition deeply. It occurs when people lose sight of who they are in relation to God, leading to doubt, confusion, and a false search for worth.

One of the most difficult identity crises a person can experience is an identity crisis based on where they came from. Some people allow their socioeconomic status, parentage, family background, neighborhood, education, rejection, reputation, or past circumstances to cripple them or keep them from reaching their true potential and fulfilling their God-given destiny. They become so focused on where they started that they cannot imagine where God can take them.

 

Jephthah's story is a powerful reminder that your beginning does not have to become your identity. He was born under circumstances that he did not choose, rejected by his own brothers, and driven away from his father's house. Yet Scripture introduces him as “a mighty man of valour.” His family saw his background, but God saw his potential. Rahab gives us another picture of this same truth. She was known by her occupation and reputation, but God saw beyond her past and incorporated her into His redemptive story. Both lives remind us that people may know your history, but God knows your destiny.

 

The Problem of Misplaced Identity

A person can begin to define themselves by the circumstances surrounding their life rather than by what God says about them. We may say, “I am poor,” “I am from a broken family,” “I am not educated enough,” “Nobody in my family has ever done that,” “I was rejected,” or “I will always be what people have called me.” The danger is not simply acknowledging these circumstances; the danger is allowing them to become the primary explanation for who we are.

There is a difference between knowing where you came from and allowing where you came from to control where you are going. Your background can influence your story without having authority over your destiny.

 

Biblical Truths About Who You Are

The Bible gives us a different way to understand identity.

• You are chosen. Ephesians 1:4 reminds us that God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.

• You are a new creation. Second Corinthians 5:17 declares that if anyone is in Christ, “he is a new creature.”

• You are God's workmanship. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

• You belong to God. First Peter 2:9 calls us a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a peculiar people.

• Therefore, our identity cannot be determined solely by our circumstances. Before you are what people say about you, you are who God says you are.

 

Core Lesson: Jephthah — More Than Where He Came From

Jephthah's story begins with a description that could easily have become a permanent label. Judges 11:1 identifies him as a Gileadite, “a mighty man of valour,” and the son of a harlot. Scripture presents both his strength and the stigma attached to his birth. His brothers focused on his parentage and used it against him, telling him that he would not inherit their father's house and driving him away. This was not rejection from strangers; it came from his own family—the very people who should have known him, supported him, and made him feel that he belonged. Jephthah could have allowed their rejection to become his identity, convincing himself that he was unwanted or that he did not belong. Instead, he went to the land of Tob, where others gathered around him. His rejection did not destroy his ability, erase his courage, or cancel what God had placed inside him. Sometimes people will reject what they do not understand, but rejection does not remove what God has placed in you.

 

When the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead found themselves in need of a leader and went back to the very man they had rejected. Jephthah did not pretend that the rejection had never happened; he reminded them, “Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?” (Judges 11:7). Yet he did not allow the wound to become a lifelong grudge or make revenge his life's mission. He could have refused to help them because they had once refused him, but instead, Jephthah moved forward. His response teaches us that acknowledging the hurt is not the same as allowing the hurt to control your future. We can remember what happened without remaining trapped in it, recognize our pain without becoming defined by it, and admit that someone hurt us without allowing bitterness to determine who we become. The man who had been pushed away eventually became the man Israel called upon, reminding us that God can use the very person others attempted to discard, and our rejection does not have the final word over God's purpose for our lives.

 

The Example of Rahab — More Than Her Reputation

Rahab gives us another powerful picture of someone whose background could have easily become her permanent identity. Joshua 2 introduces Rahab as a harlot, or prostitute, living in Jericho whose occupation and reputation were known. Yet when the Israelite spies came, she courageously protected them and acknowledged the God of Israel. Her past as a prostitute did not prevent her from responding to God, and her reputation did not prevent God from using her. Hebrews 11:31 remembers Rahab because of her faith, showing us that God saw beyond her past and recognized the faith she demonstrated.

 

When we place Rahab alongside Jephthah, we see two people from very different circumstances who could have allowed their backgrounds to define them. Jephthah was rejected because of his parentage, while Rahab was known as a prostitute, yet neither person's beginning prevented God from using them. Their stories remind us that our past may be part of our testimony, but it does not have to be the definition of our identity. God can redeem our story, use our experiences, and lead us into a purpose that is greater than where we started.

 

Five Ways to Overcome a Background-Based Identity Crisis

• Identify the Lie

• Replace the Lie With Scripture

• Stop Seeking Your Worth From People

• Release the Grudge and Surrender the Hurt

• Focus on God's Purpose and Move Forward

 

Conclusion

Jephthah and Rahab both remind us that our identity cannot be determined by where we came from, what others have called us, or the circumstances that surrounded our beginnings. Jephthah was rejected because of his parentage and driven away by his own family, yet God used him as a mighty man of valour and positioned him to become a leader. Rahab was known by her reputation and occupation, yet her past did not prevent her from demonstrating faith, protecting God's people, and becoming part of God's redemptive story. Their lives show us that God sees beyond the labels people place on us and beyond the circumstances that may have shaped us.

 

As we continue this Identity Crisis series, we must recognize that a background-based identity crisis occurs when we allow our history to become our identity. Jephthah and Rahab teach us that we can acknowledge where we came from without allowing it to determine where we are going. We can experience rejection without becoming bitter, remember our past without being imprisoned by it, and recognize our humble beginnings without believing they make us incapable of greatness.