EP 95 God Image vs Self Image - Anjanette Korakis & Brenda Black

Allow Him to open the eyes of your understanding for things that have happened in the past and allow Him to help you to move on. He's there. He wants you to get in that God image place and His Word is the best place to start. Hey, welcome to another podcast of iRefresh. It is so fun to be here with you. My name is Brenda Kummer Black, and I am a friend of iRefresh. And today I have Anjanette Karakis as a guest that I get to spend a little time with. Angie, tell us a little bit about yourself. Oh, thanks, Brenda. Well, my husband and I, we have five kiddos ages 8 to 16. And if that weren't enough, we decided to open our own business. We run Good Life Music and Media Lessons and give music and media lessons to kids of all ages and have a great time doing so. But I remember you from ORU days. You were the amazing chaplain, women's chaplain there. And you gave this amazing sermon about all the different hats we wear. And you even had hats on stage and the different illustrations. I remember. And that totally stuck out to me and has helped me wear all the different hats that I have to wear. So I'm excited to be here with you today. Thank you, Angie, because you wear a lot of hats and you wear them beautifully. Oh my goodness. Well, thank you. By God's grace. Yeah. Amen. By God's grace. Yeah. Today, I think our goal of this podcast today is to really differentiate between, as women, you know, the kind of the push is know your identity, you know, know what your self-image and self-esteem really is. Like work hard to build that up in your life. And, you know, As much as that's good, there's some good things about that, as godly women, there's more. And it's really moving into that God esteem, that God image that he's called us to be bearers of and to walk in. So that's really our goal of today, is to differentiate and kind of discuss around that topic. I love it. Yeah, that's excellent. Okay, okay, so... Want me to start? Yeah. Okay. All right. So, you know, we were talking earlier about kind of the four tiers of identifying your identity. And a lot of people stay in the outside tier, which is how, you know, how others see us, the image that others have of us. Aren't we so concerned about how others see us and view us? Yes. So that's your outer tier. If you've got four circles going down, the biggest one, the first one is what people think about us. That's right. Yeah, absolutely. That's right. And then in that, the next one is the image that we project to others. So it's so important to us. how others see us again. And we're managing that all the time, trying to make sure that our appearance is a certain way, that social media looks, our families look a certain way. Putting our best foot forward. Yes, absolutely. And some people just stay in those two tiers. Okay. But then we also know as women and godly and, you know, those that don't know the Lord, that, you know, we want to have a good self-esteem, a good identity of who we are. So we're hustling. We're working on, man, making sure I feel good about myself. Okay. You know, that my self-esteem is built up, my self-image, you know, how I see myself, your self-image is healthy and right. And that's a good thing. But the thing that God has called us to is really going into this inner core, which is really who we truly are in Christ. And that is our God image. It, it, it. overrides our self-image, which is really about self. It makes us self-conscious, focusing on ourself. Oh no, am I doing good enough? Do I look good enough? Do I perform enough? How am I performing? Outside of, if we break through that, the inner core is God, the God-given power. You know, who we really are. Yep, exactly. Exactly. That's excellent. And that is what the enemy has always been targeting. I mean, from the very beginning with Eve, when the enemy came and said, well, who really told you that you can't eat from that tree, right? And so he's been saying those same things all along. Who do you really think you are? Why do you think you can do that? Just constantly at us by using those outer tears that you're... Yes. Your circle here, I love it. The image where others think of us, the image that we try to make of us, and then really what we think of ourselves, which sometimes we're the worst enemy to ourselves. We believe the lies, you know? Yes, we are our own worst critic. Often we do the enemy's work for him. him because I mean, I, I kind of use the illustration that we carry a baseball bat in our back pocket. We pull it out and just beat ourselves up all the time. Right. Uh, I'm not good enough. I'm, you know, great. You know, I blew it or, you know, whatever we're using, um, you know, we, we often do the enemy's work, but it is the enemy who daily is trying to bombard us with lies to keep us outside of our God identity. Getting to the core. Yes. Which in that place is where we function in our true sense of self, our divine appointments, our calling, our giftings, the anointing that God has uniquely given me and you. That comes in that place. And it's really not about self. It's about God. Yes. Yes. Right. So true. So true. And sometimes I believe we don't even know that we are listening to lies. We don't even realize it. But then we have to think as ladies, think about what you're thinking about. Do your thoughts, do the words out of your mouth, line up with the word of God. But you can't even know that you're listening to lies if you don't first know the truth. And so we have to find ourselves in the word and. Every day, finding out what the Word of God says about us. And you know, you can tell a lot about where a person is by listening to them. I met this precious lady and she just always was talking about how she had this brain tumor when she was a child. And it caused things to be messed up. And that defined her, that she could not get past that. And I don't think she realized that she was living that lie for herself, that there is a better way, that that might be. fact right now, but the truth of God's word says that you have a sound mind, that he can help you in your weaknesses, that you can be strong in the Lord and in the power of his mind. You don't have to live in something that has defined you in the past. That's really good. It's really good. I think that is the enemy's plot and ploy is to take whatever it is, a trauma, words that were spoken negatively that kind of rooted in. that the enemy then wants to take and daily lie to us about and keep us outside in the perimeter, believing those lies. That's always the enemy's plan, to keep us out of what God's saying. And so it's true that it's the truth of God's word that sets us free. Yes, absolutely. And so just like you're saying, Angie, so how do you identify lies in your life And how do you move into truth, like specifically? Are there any practical steps that you could give the listeners? So my favorite thing to do is to take scripture and put it into first person. So if I may grab my Bible here. So one of my favorite scriptures is 2 Timothy 3, and it says, all scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training. So right there, the word is our coach. It's like you have a coach right there with you. You can do this. Here's how you do this. Or if you just tweak this a little bit, it's the Holy Spirit on the inside of you doing the work. You don't have to put all this effort. Well, I have to be doing this. Allow the Holy Spirit to do the work in you. He's going to teach you and help you. And the whole reason for that is so that you may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. So if I read that, sometimes if I'm in the secondary tier there of all, it's all about me and my self-image, then I'm going to think, well, I have to be thoroughly equipped. Well, I'm not thoroughly equipped enough to do anything. Right. Okay. But we're not the ones doing the work. Then I say, I put in first person. I'm thoroughly equipped for every good work. The Holy Spirit works in me and through me. I might not feel like it. I might feel like a hot mess in the moment, but it's God working in me. And I just say, I say it in first person. You can, any scripture that is a promise that God has, you can put it in first person and speak that over yourself. Yeah, I love that. Yeah. You know, it makes me think of the scripture in Matthew that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Yes. And I think a lot of times when we're functioning out of, you know, even a self-esteem place, trying to have a good enough self-image, self, again, being the primary word, there's a heaviness. You know, it's hustle more. You know, hustle more, do more, perform more. You know, there's just more for me. It's on me. It's a sense. And I think a lot of women operate in this place, a place of responsibility that's very, very heavy. And, you know, I mean, just this week in my office, I had a girl, 28 years old, that's like, wow. She's got two little kids under the age of three, and she feels responsible for their future. Oh, sure. Like we're talking, you know, when they're now 20s, and they're three and two. And I'm like, man, that sense of responsibility, of heaviness, I've got to make sure. I've got to do. And, you know, there is responsibility we carry as women. Sure. For sure. But... His yoke is easy. His burden is light. The anointing that he puts in us, the God image, you know, the calling he's put on you and on me, there's an ease. There's a peace in that. Right. You know, another practical tip. I will literally just put my hands up like this. Yeah. And you can, nobody really notices if you do it privately, but just as a sign of surrender. If I find myself feeling anxious or overly responsible for something, I, no, Lord, I give this to you. I submit my life to you. I can't make. my lungs breathe, I mean, then how can I think I can do anything else apart from you? I'll do what I know to do, and I'll ask you to take care of the rest. And you know, when I do that, it reminds me of what he did for me. He stretched out his arms so that I could have life. and have it more abundantly. And the Amplified says, so you can have and enjoy this life. Enjoy it. Right? It's not just supposed to be a burden. There are going to be troubles. We do have responsibility. But there is that yoke of easiness that you're talking about. I love that. I love that. It is lifting your hands out and up. And just kind of, it's a sign of releasing. It's release. It's surrender. That's good. It's letting go. It's, Lord, this is not about me. It's about you. I don't want to have to be myself feeling that pressure and it's all about me. Lord, I'm moving into that place of who you created me to be. That's good. That God image, that there's peace in that. And that's where we're most effective. Yes. That's what we want as women. We want, we're influencers and we want to make a difference. That's where we really truly make a difference. Yeah. You're not making any difference when you're anxious. That's right. When there's chaos. Yep. When there's frustration. Mm-hmm. All the difference that you make comes from a place of peace. Beautiful. And there is no peace outside of God's word. There just isn't. You can't find it in the outer tear that you've shown, what others think of me, what culture is doing. You can't find it in trying to make yourself look a certain way. You can't try, you know, find it any other way than at the core. What does God say about me? Absolutely. That's so good. Yeah. And the word of God is active. That's good. And alive. It works. And sharper than any two-edged sword. It divides the soulish realm from the spirit realm. The lies of the enemy from the truth of what he believes about us, our God image. The word of God separates and divides that. So if you don't know, if you're like, I don't know if it's lie or truth. The word of God always directs and points and shows us. Yeah. And you know, I would say too, the Bible is huge. Where do I start? Where do I begin? Anywhere, really. I mean, the New Testament is a great place to start, but when you read the Word, you see a God who loves you so much. Even in the Old Testament, it's so beautiful the way he wooed the children of God and wanted them. They were his people. He wanted a family, you know, and we're his kids. room for all of us and how much he wants us to be in that inner place with him, that God image. Yeah. Amen. Amen. I love that. So beautiful. I love that. You know, I think that most of us operate and we think it seems good to stay in a healthy self-image. But as long as you're, you know, if I drew a line on the bottom, that would be your self-esteem, your self-image. Most of us operate out of that place of effectiveness that, you know, it's kind of, okay, I'm feeling good. And then every now and then we, man, I knocked out of the park today. I had a great day. Like I was so productive and effective and felt like I was like flowing in the anointing or there's something really, really great today. Right. That's when you peek up to the God image. That's really your true potential. Yeah. And that's who God made you to be. So it's not your self-image. It really is the God image. How I tap into that is when I let go of self. Yes. And I move into him. And, you know, in him we live and move and have our very being. Yeah. So, you know, that's, and you said it beautifully, releasing self. Yes. And allowing ourselves to go there. I would say that would be the number one thing this year for me is just being obedient, being open, being trusting more of the Lord. You know, maybe there are circumstances where you felt like God has let you down in the past. Yeah. Allow him the opportunity to show you who he is. Allow him to open the eyes of your understanding for things that have happened in the past. Allow him to help you to move on. He's there. He wants you to get in that God image place. His word is the best place to start. That's beautiful. who he is and what he says about you. That's right. Yeah. So to kind of sum it up here, that's so good, Angie, because really what I hear you saying is there's healing. God has healing for us. To get out of those outer shells of what people think and managing our image and even just our self place, but when we move into true healing, into true place of knowing, gosh, Lord, your banner over me. me is love. You love me. I belong to you. I am your daughter. You know, I'm yours. Yeah. And we release and we move into that place. And that really is a place of knowing I'm loved. There's, there's full healing there. That's when we flourish in God. So I love that. Yeah. I love that. You're such a great guest. Thank you so much for today. Oh, it's so fun to talk. I love the word. I love talking about it. I know you do. So, yeah. You know, and that's another thing I love about you. You are, anytime I talk to you, you're going to give me the word. So I thank you for that. You know, that's really who you are. So, Angie, what is it that you really want to impart to our listeners right now? I would say that if there is any trauma or story in your mind from your past or present and from these circles that Brenda has talked about, the outer circle of what others have done or said to you or think about you, the inner one of, how you feel like you're supposed to be in this life or your own personal self-image, that you would allow God to show you who you are and that there is healing in the word, that God is not angry with you. God is not shocked by anything in your present or your past. There is no guilt or shame whatsoever. And I would just encourage you get in the word. And I know that sounds so cliche, but it's so true. The best thing I use every day is the Bible app. You just, it's right there. I have a widget for it. You click on it. It's got the scripture of the day. It'll help you with reading through the Bible. The word is healing. It's health. It's power to you. Give it a chance. That's what I would say. Amen. Yeah. That's so good and so practical. It really, really is. Yeah. God is so simple. He's not complicated. You know, it might not be easy. And he's not God is simple. He's amazing. But he's not asking us to do something very, very hard. It's very simple. Just get in his word. You know, and Angie, as you say that, that he wants to heal those parts of our lives, I think it's really hard if we have a wrong view of who God is. Mm-hmm. If we think he's complicated, if we think he really doesn't love us, you know, we have a distorted view of God, it's going to be very difficult to get into that God image. Mm-hmm. So, you know, to your point, you know, I also want to encourage the listeners, if you need some professional help to help you just really process through. I'm an LPC, a licensed professional counselor, got a practice here in town in Tulsa or Jenks area. And, you know, I've got a great team, but, you know, we're, we're trained to help people move quickly through things and to move into healing and identify some of those cognitive distortions. And, you know, as women, I think, especially it's so easy to have just, just wrong thinking and, and sometimes we're accustomed to it. We think it's normal. Yeah. Exactly. Right? Yep. We don't even know. We're thinking that way that we shouldn't be. And that's why someone like you is so helpful. Just talk it out. Talk with someone who believes in you and has some knowledge to help. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Good. Good. It's been so fun. Oh, thanks for having me, Brenda. You're full of Jesus and the word of God, the life, the truth. And, you know, you just always strengthen me and encourage me to want really to dig into the word more. So thank you, Angie. Thank you. I truly, truly mean that. Oh, thank you. That's true. So if you want to be encouraged more, just like you were today, I just want to encourage you to tap into iRefresh Ministries. They have so many great resources. If you need prayer. Call them, reach out. There's a team waiting to pray for you and to encourage you. You know, we can't do this alone. We need each other. So, all right. Well, thank you. It's so fun. God bless you.