Man Up! Sample

OWN YOUR IDENTITY

The first important foundational element that needed to be in place before Esther was ready for any great challenge, was her identity. Even though she had to keep her background and nationality secret, she continued living according to her identity (Esther 2:20, NLT).

How do you live in a harem without becoming an enslaved woman, but end up as queen of a powerful nation? How do you live in the face of extinction without becoming a victim, but end up rescuing God's chosen people? By knowing who you are.

People are generally unable to keep up behavior that goes against who they are. For example, someone who is an introvert may act differently for a while, but when things go wrong, he or she will revert to their real identity. Fortunately, believers have a new, victorious identity in Christ. "Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God's people…" (1 Peter 2:10, NLT). 

Esther knew that no label given to her in her current circumstance could change her identity. She continued in the ways that her Jewish uncle, Mordecai, taught her in his home. And when the time was right, she could do nothing else but take a stand.