Identity Theft 2: Do You Need to Recover Your Identity?

Posted on by TLThomas

I imagine that realizing your Identity has been stolen is right up there on the top of your “Do Not Do” Bucket List.

The Recovery from Identity Theft can be arduous, frustrating, time-consuming, and expensive.

From what I’ve heard, recovering your stolen ID can take enormous effort and a great deal of time, and you may still have repercussions for the rest of your life.

How to Recover Your Stolen Identity

After first realizing your Identity has been stolen, the second thing to do is to report it.

 

The US government has a website with information to help with the recovery process.

Tell us what happened.

We’ll ask some questions about your situation. Tell us as much as you can.

 

Get a recovery plan.

We’ll use that info to create a personal recovery plan.

 

Put your plan into action.

If you create an account, we’ll walk you through each recovery step, update your plan as needed, track your progress, and pre-fill forms and letters for you.

Report Identity Theft and Get a Recovery Plan

 

You can report identity (ID) theft to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) online at IdentityTheft.gov or by phone at 1-877-438-4338. The FTC will collect the details of your situation.

 

Benefits of reporting to the FTC on line include receiving an ID theft report.

When reporting ID theft on IdentityTheft.gov, you can create an account and then:

  • Have access to pre-written letters that you can send to creditors to fix accounts.
  • Get a recovery plan to guide you through fixing problems caused by identity theft. 
  • Be able to track your progress in fixing problems that the identity theft caused.

 

Third, you need an Identity Recovery Plan.

You can receive a personalized Recovery Plan at IdentityTheft.gov

Or, you can download the FTC publication for Identity Theft: A Recovery Plan.

 

Fourth, then you work through it, step-by-step.

 

And when you are frustrated, annoyed, angry, depressed, disheartened, discouraged, you take a deep breath, take a (short – no procrastination!) break.

Then keep slogging: persist, persevere, “press on toward the goal for the prize” (Philippians 3:14).

Do You Need to Recover Your Stolen Christian Identity?

Has the “liar and father of lies” stolen your Spiritual Identity?

 

I closed before by asking:

Are you letting falsehood have power over your life?

 

We can approach the recovery from the theft of our Spiritual Identity similar to the way we recover from a stolen ID: 

  1. Recognize it
  2. Seek help/ Tell someone about it
  3. Prepare a personalized Identity Recovery Plan
  4. Work through your Plan

 

So,

  1. Recognize it:
  • What do you believe is true about yourself?

Consider how you described yourself previously

  • Are all your beliefs true?

Are they based on your reality; or are they based on your perception of your reality?

Perhaps a close Christian friend can help you see how you see yourself

(And the truth of how others see you!)

  • What false beliefs about who you are in God are you living out?

You need to identity them in order to correct them – to replace them with God’s Truth about yourself.

 

  1. Seek help/ Tell someone about it:
  • Consider discussing your concerns with a mature Christian, a prayer partner, a spiritual director, or close Christian friend.

They may have had similar misguided self-perceptions and know how to work through them.

Or they can point you in the right direction.

 

  1. Prepare a Recovery Plan
  • Identify your false belief(s)
  • Discover the Biblical Truth about your false belief(s)
  • Replace the false belief(s) with Biblical Truth(s)

 

  1. Work through the Plan
  • And, as with ID theft recovery, you will get frustrated, annoyed, angry, depressed, disheartened, and discouraged.
  • And, as with ID theft recovery, you take a deep breath, take a break (short – no procrastination!).
  • Then, keep slogging: persist, persevere, “press on toward the goal for the prize” (Philippians 3:14).

Preparing a Spiritual Identity Recovery Plan

  1. Identify False Belief(s)
  2. Discover the Biblical Truth
  3. Replace the false belief(s) with Biblical Truth(s)

First: Identify false belief(s)

What are some beliefs that you know (head knowledge) are not Biblical but your inner being (heart knowledge) denies as the Truth?

For example, do you believe any of these lies?

  • I am a freak of nature, a “wild child”
  • I am alone, an orphan
  • I am unlovable, rejected, ignored, isolated
  • I am unforgiveable; my sin is too great
  • I am guilty; I deserve punishment
  • I am unrighteous, without goodness, without worth
  • I am as good as dead; but my body doesn’t know it yet
  • I am doomed to die because of my sin
  • I am unable to change myself, my life, or my circumstances
  • I am full of worry, fear, and hopelessness
  • I am a broken nobody in a broken world
  • I am unacceptable to the church; I am not good enough to be allowed in a church

Second: Discover the Biblical Truth

For each false belief, affirm God’s Truth by seeking His Truth in His Word. 

  • You can begin with these Truths about who the Bible says you are.
  • Check them out.
  • Then look for additional verses that apply specifically to your wrong beliefs.

12 False Beliefs vs The Biblical Truth

  1. The Lie: I am a freak of nature, a “wild child”

The Truth: I AM created in the Image of God – Genesis 1:26-27

 

  1. The Lie: I am alone, an orphan 

The Truth: I AM Child of God – John 1:12-13

 

  1. The Lie: I am unlovable, rejected, ignored, isolated

The Truth: I AM Loved; I am never alone – Romans 8:35, 38-39

 

  1. The Lie: I am unforgiveable; my sin is too great

The Truth: I AM Forgiven; NO sin is too great – Ephesians 1:7-8; 1 John 1:9

 

  1. The Lie: I am guilty; I deserve punishment

The Truth: I AM Saved from Punishment for Sin – Mark 16:15-16

 

  1. The Lie: I am unrighteous, without goodness, without worth

The Truth: I AM Righteous through Christ – 2 Corinthians 5:18-20

 

  1. The Lie: I am as good as dead; but my body doesn’t know it yet

The Truth: I AM Alive Through Christ – Ephesians 2:4-7; Colossians 2:13-14

 

  1. The Lie: I am doomed to die because of my sin

The Truth: I AM Promised Eternal Life – John 3:16

 

  1. The Lie: I am unable to change myself, my life, or my circumstances

The Truth: I AM Transformed – Romans 12:2

 

  1. The Lie: I am full of worry, fear, and hopelessness

The Truth: I AM full of Peace – John 14:27

 

  1. The Lie: I am a broken nobody in a broken world

The Truth: I AM a Citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven – Colossians 1:13-14

 

  1. The Lie: I am unacceptable to the church; I am not good enough to be allowed in a church

The Truth: I AM a member of the Body of Christ, the Church – 1 Corinthians 6:15-17

Third: Replace the False Belief(s) with Biblical Truth(s)

Count Your Blessings!

Begin your count with the 12 Biblical Truths above.

They are merely a few of the Blessings for you, from the Father, from your Father.

Continue to discover more Blessings as you read and study the Bible.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,                                                     Ephesians 1:3 NASB

 

 

Be thankful for your Blessings!

Cultivate ‘an attitude of gratitude.’

4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.                                                                  Psalm 100:4 NASB

 

1 Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.                                                    Psalm 106:1 NASB

 

How to replace false beliefs:

  • Know The Truth
  • Speak The Truth
  • Live The Truth

Know The Truth:

I Know Who I Am In God

Affirm God’s Truth by believing – with head knowledge and heart knowledge – the Truth of His Word. 

  • I know the Truth about my identity as written in the Bible.
  • I know this Truth has been, is now, and ever will be True for me.
  • I will, in trust and obedience, commit to work with and in the Holy Spirit to manifest this Truth in my life.

Speak The truth:

I Speak the Living Word into My Life

Affirm God’s Truth by speaking the Truth of His Word. 

  • It is very important to speak the Words of Scripture out loud. 

 

  • When reading and speaking aloud, we are inputting new messages into our brain through both our eyes and our ears. 

 

  • When speaking aloud from memory, we are reinforcing the message in our mind through both our ears and the practice of recollection, accessing our ‘data retrieval system’ by strengthening the nerve network of our brain.

 

  • We are being “transformed by the renewing” of our mind.

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.                                                                       Romans 12:2 NASB

 

For each false belief, for each lie, Know the Truth.

For each false belief, for each lie, Speak the Truth.

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.                                                     Proverbs 18:21 NASB

 

  1. Write down your false belief
  2. Look up Bible verses about it
  3. Look up Bible verses about the opposite of it
  4. Write down the Biblical Truth you have found
  5. Write out the verse(s)
  6. Write the verse(s) in the first person – using ‘I’ and ‘me’ and ‘my’
  7. Read, aloud, these verses, as affirmations, regularly and often.

Look into the mirror as you say them.

Speak them directly to the ‘you’ you see in the mirror

Call yourself by name as you say them

 

This method of speaking aloud personalized Scripture absolutely changed my false thinking in so many areas of my life.

It works!

 

Additional Resources:

Get Out of That Pit by Beth Moore

The Secret Power of Speaking God’s Word by Joyce Meyer

 

Then what?

Live The Truth:

My Thoughts Become Truth-filled Beliefs and My New Way of Life

As a disciple, are you going to work with the Holy Spirit to transform your mind to “the mind of Christ”?

Can you learn to accept your true Identity, your Identity in the Godhead?

Will you learn to live out your true identity as a disciple of Yeshua?

12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.                                                                    Hebrews 3:12-13 NASB

 

More on ‘changing your mind’ …

… next time.

 

Blessings,

 

TLThomas

 

It’s ok to doubt, if you check it out!

Be a Berean!

10 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.                                                   Acts 17:10-11 NASB

 

  Please join me in this journey of discovery.

  • Leave a comment, or ask me a question.
  • Share this blog with others, whether they are doubting, or not.
  • Take what I say and CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF! 

© TLThomas 2022

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