Jesus responded to the temptation to prove who He was by saying, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test?” (Matthew 4:7). His identity was shaped by His relationship with the Lord His God.  And because of His relationship with God, Jesus was secure in who He was.
Where you find your identity will shape your security. At the core for the search for identity through self-esteem is insecurity. So many spend their lives proving who they are, and yet under the bravado is an insecure person.
Insecurity is the common malady of humanity. Look around you, and you’ll see it shaping society.  Look within you, and you’ll see it shaping you, unless you know who you are through Christ. Once Adam broke his upward connection with God, insecurity began reshaping his view of himself.
Prior to sinning, Adam didn’t even focus upon himself. Once he disobeyed, his eyes were opened to the world around him in such in a way that he interpreted it in relationship to himself. Adam now perceived that Eve looked at him differently. He was naked.
Prior to sinning, Adam was not self-conscious. I don’t mean he didn’t have self-awareness. I mean he didn’t interpret the world around him based on his inward view of himself but based on his upward view of God.
Once you break the upward connection, you interpret the world around you according to you inward perspective. And without God, that view is skewed. After sinning, Adam hid from God and blamed Eve. Ultimately he blamed God by describing Eve to God as “the woman you gave me.”
Insecure people don’t have problems. They are just not supported by others and by God himself.  At least that’s what they think.   This is the appeal, at least that’s what Satan thought, when he tempted Christ to cast himself down from the pinnacle of the temple because God had commanded angels to protect Jesus. Satan is in effect saying, “Show who you are by proving that God is on your side.”
This is the temptation to self-vindication. Christians, who would never fall for the temptation to self-gratification, fall for the temptation to self-vindication. This is behind our desire to be proven right.
Being right is not all it’s cracked up to be. It’s better than being wrong, but it shouldn’t define us. “I’m right and you’re wrong” is a phrase that describes how many Christians define themselves. This is wrong because it’s ultimately about self-vindication.
We cannot begin to see ourselves as Christ sees until we first deny ourselves. This is why Jesus said…
To be continued
Michael Peters
STEPHEN SIMPSON is the Editor of One-to-One Magazine and the Director of CSM Publishing. In addition to publishing ministry, Stephen has served in leadership for churches and ministries in Costa Rica, Florida, Mississippi, Texas, and Michigan, as well as being the Senior Pastor of Covenant Church of Mobile (2004-2013). He continues to travel in ministry across North America and in other nations.