Touré Roberts - The War of Identity

I believe the impetus for this message stemmed from a recent conversation I had with my wife. We celebrated her birthday the other day, got away, and had a great time. During our discussion, we reflected on one of her previous relationships. You know how sometimes you just talk about things, even the crazy stuff, and you realize that you might not fully understand the situation. We were discussing a former relationship of hers, which was indeed quite tumultuous. What shocked me more than the outrageous things he did was the fact that she allowed it to happen. All I could think was that she didn’t truly know who she was; if she had, she would never have accepted even a fraction of what transpired. In that moment, I said to her, «Sarah, my prayer for you is that you never fail to see yourself for who you truly are.»

This led me to reflect on people in general and how we often accept things that don’t represent us because we haven’t discovered our true selves. There isn’t a greater thief in our lives than ignorance about who we are. I don’t think there is a more significant robber, and the reality is that all of us are robbed by that thief at least once or twice, if not seasonally. If we don’t know better, how can we expect better? I believe one of the most crucial missions of our lives is to discover our divine identity—who we truly are, for real. I’m speaking about what God was thinking before He placed us in our mothers’ wombs. I think this quest to find out who we are and to see it clearly, ultimately expressing it unapologetically, is one of our greatest missions.

What if the very mission of our lives is to discover who we are, to recognize that version of ourselves clearly, and then express it? What if, in the highest form of identity, we are truly artists, and our masterpiece is to express who God has revealed us to be? There’s a book I love called «The War of Art,» not to be confused with Sun Tzu’s «The Art of War,» a very well-known ancient Chinese treatise. The concept and theme of «The War of Art» revolve around how artists, writers, and creative souls must battle to express what they hold within. In the book, the author discusses the concept of «resistance» and how one must fight to overcome it in order to create art. As a writer, I can relate to this, especially when it comes to writing books, because you can’t just sit down and produce it. There’s always some form of opposition—distractions, mood swings, or whatever else may come. There is always a war against the expression you feel inspired to share.

Moreover, the book mentions that we know who the resister is: his name is Satan, Lucifer, Belzebub—the enemy. We ultimately refer to him as the enemy. He embodies that resistance, but the author also talks about having an ally, an inner ally called your inner genius. Your inner genius serves as your ally to help you produce work. Why do I mention all of this? I bring it up to emphasize that it is a struggle to be yourself. Let that resonate. It will always be a fight to be your true self; there will always be resistance, animosity, and strategies against you being you. You must not only fight; you must also embrace the identity of a fighter. Why? Because the only way to truly be you is to fight for it.

You will not simply lay down and become yourself; you will not acquiesce to others’ concepts, ideas, or opinions about you and embody your true self. You will have to fight. I assure you, you cannot chill your way into being you. You cannot compromise your way into authenticity; you will have to fight through anything and everything that hinders you from being yourself. The way to achieve this is to battle for your true identity. You have to fight for who you are. Are you with me? We can move further; you cannot attain it by laying down. Note this: You cannot achieve it by quitting. Embrace the fact that once you begin to accept the real version of yourself, you will…