Book Spotlight: I AM by Sons & Daughters

I’m delighted today to give you a peek inside I AM by Sons & Daughters with an excerpt!

I AM: Find Your Identity. Claim Your Freedom. Embrace the Adventure.
GENRE: Inspirational Young Adult Spiritual Growth
PUBLISHER: Revell
RELEASE DATE: September 21, 2021
PAGES: 188

The world has been waiting for the unveiling of God’s glorious sons and daughters.
It’s time our generation steps into the reality of who God says we are.

If you are struggling with finding your calling in this copy-and-paste world, you are not alone. In I AM, Sons & Daughters calls you to stop living to the world’s standard and step into the fullness and adventure that God has waiting for you, believing and living the truth that

you are creative
you are holy
you are righteous
you are secure
you are called
you are confident
you are loved

“Words have the power to both create and destroy. When we listen too long or too well to what others say about us, we run the risk of forgetting who we truly are. This is why we’re so excited about this message! I AM is seven declarations of truth that combat any lie we’ve believed and align us with what our Father speaks over us.”–John Bevere, bestselling author and minister, cofounder of Messenger International, and Lisa Bevere, New York Times bestselling author and minister, cofounder of Messenger International

I AM CONFIDENT

When we think of a confident person, most of us probably picture a man or woman standing tall, chin up, with their eyes fearlessly focused on their goal. Their clothing is sharp and stylish, and they smell of success. If they are wearing adult diapers, no one will ever find out. They know what they want, and they know that they have what it takes to get it. Everyone in their world is attracted to them because they seem so, well, confident.

Faced with the realization of how important confidence is to succeed in life, many of us look deep inside ourselves. And we panic. We aren’t confident. We aren’t bold. We can sometimes fake it with enough caffeine and desperation, but we don’t feel nearly as confident as we are told we ought to be. So we pretend. We stand taller and force ourselves to make eye contact, and we shake hands with a nice firm grip that hopefully isn’t dripping with nervous sweat. “Fake it till you make it” becomes our mantra.

We rarely stop to wonder how many of the apparently confident people around us are giving themselves the same pep talk. Instead, we assume we are the imposters in the group. We are the ones whose incompetence will soon be the talk of the town. Everyone else is totally sure of themselves and not faking anything, right?

Wrong. Appearing confident is easier than being confident, and plenty of people are scared spitless behind their self-assured facade. That doesn’t mean we assume people are faking their confidence, but let’s not assume they are demigods either.

Some people mistake arrogance for confidence. They are convinced that they are smarter than everyone around and that the world is not worthy of their presence. But this isn’t true confidence any more than the fake confidence we just mentioned. Neither “I’m an imposter” nor “I’m God’s greatest gift to humankind” is the voice of real confidence. Both are counterfeits.

God offers the real thing. Real confidence can be defined as “an awareness of who you are, regardless of how you compare or measure up to others.” It is born out of an inner security that doesn’t need constant affirmation from others, that doesn’t have to dominate to prove itself, that isn’t shaken by failure because it wasn’t built on performance in the first place. That inner security is what we discussed in the last chapter. As sons and daughters of God, created and loved and cared for by him, we have a security that nothing can shake. That inner sense of knowing who we are and what we are worth in God’s eyes is what enables us to be really confident.

Confidence is how we feel and act once we grasp what Jesus has done to make us holy, righteous, loved, and secure. If security is the inner peace of understanding our worth, then confidence is the outward expression of that security.

True confidence can’t be faked, at least not for long. In times of conflict, uncertainty, or failure, our core beliefs are revealed. And since these things are near-daily companions in this crazy journey we call life, who we are will eventually come out. If our confidence is merely a facade, it will crack. If our confidence is just pride in our supposedly superior abilities, it will crumble. But if our confidence is the authentic outward expression of an unshakable inner security in Christ, we will stand.

Taken from I AM by Sons & Daughters. Revell Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2021.
Used by permission.

affiliate links used

Sons & Daughters is an initiative that helps young adults discover the adventure, freedom, and purpose found in their creator. Founded by the Beveres, what began in 2017 as a few YouTube videos for millennials has grown into a collection of studies, podcasts, events, and a global community with Ambassadors in over forty countries. For more information or to get involved, visit SonsAndDaughters.tv.

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What about you? What makes you want to read I AM by Sons & Daughters?