The Enemy’s Smartest Strategy Against Leaders

I had a difficult debrief a few weeks back. (Thank you, Spirit, for showing up.)

I wanted this leader to see themselves from God's perspective. But they couldn't. And that's the problem with most of the leaders I work with.

The Enemy's Best Trick

The enemy of our souls has one favorite move: keeping people from seeing themselves as God sees them.

In the New Testament, he's called an adversary, accuser, deceiver, tempter, murderer, enemy, and the source of lies. But here's what I've realized: the fastest way to fulfill all these descriptions? Block people from seeing themselves through God's eyes.

I've watched him do this through:

• The lies of parents, teachers, and bosses

• The words of friends

• The attacks of adversaries

• The messages in the media

• The narratives in culture

All designed to tilt our thoughts away from God's thoughts about us. If he can keep us from seeing ourselves as God does, he wins.

The Pattern I Keep Seeing

So many of my debriefs hit the same wall.

The leader sitting across from me can't see how they're uniquely loved. Can't see they're made for specific works. Sure, they hear me talk about the attributes they possess. But in their heart of hearts? They don't believe it.

This particular debrief was a perfect example.

According to his 16PF CDR report, this person could be more effective than most other leaders with their unique profile. Their response? Cognitive acknowledgment. But I could tell their heart wasn't buying it.

The enemy has sold them lies about who they are (identity) and what they are destined to do (calling). I could talk for hours, and they wouldn't get it because the enemy has already tilted their thinking and emotions away from how God sees them.

What the Science Says

Richard Boyatzis calls this the Ideal Self in The Science of Change.

His research shows that until a person viscerally grasps their Ideal Self, nothing else provides long-term sustaining change. This is the first essential step.

From my perspective, this Ideal Self is literally seeing who and how God created them to be. But here's the tragedy, this view has been skewed by lies from others, family of origin, culture, and the enemy of our souls.

Boyatzis explains that sustaining change requires two things:

1. Ideal Self - Who you're meant to be

2. Real Self - Where you currently are

That's exactly what I'm attempting to help leaders see. Who God created them to be (Ideal Self) and where they currently are (Real Self).

These are the two biggest challenges.

The Truth That Sets Free

I pray, study, and work diligently to help leaders fully grasp, believe, and integrate who God created them to be and how this manifests in their calling.

Then comes the harder part: helping them see themselves realistically without feeling condemned, shamed, or rejected.

These obstacles are the tools the enemy uses to keep individuals from living out their identity through their calling.

Jesus said it plainly in John 8:32: "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

The First Piece of Armor

Paul makes it clear in Ephesians 6 that our battle isn't with other people, it's against the enemy of our souls (Ephesians 6:12).

So he tells us to fight this enemy with the armor God has given us.

Here's what I find interesting: the first piece of armor described is the belt of truth.

Ironically, this isn't specifically the Word of God (the Bible) as it's so often taught, that comes later in verse 17. The armor of Righteousness, the Gospel, Faith, Salvation, the Spirit, and the Word all follow Truth.

The enemy's tactic is to keep people from hearing, seeing, or grasping the truth.

That's why Jesus says when you know the truth, it will set you free (John 12:32). The truth about who we are through Christ's transformational power and presence.

Who You Really Are

The truth about our identity is this: God loves each of us. He created each of us uniquely and specifically to be one of his kids.

Here's Psalm 139:13-15 in common language:

"God, you personally shaped every part of who I am. You put me together inside my mother's womb with incredible care and intention. I'm in awe of how you designed me unique, intricate, and full of purpose, and I thank you because everything you make is extraordinary."

If individuals can't hear and really believe this, they'll never embrace a healthy calling.

Why? Because they'll be trying to work out their own worth through what they're accomplishing. They'll be trying to find their value by what they do rather than who they are.

This is backwards. And these are the lies the enemy reinforces.

The Right Order

The truth is that our calling emerges out of our identity.

What we're designed to do is directly informed by who we're created to be.

But the enemy of our souls has filled our thoughts with lies.

Ephesians 2:1-10 describes us apart from Christ and how our identity is completely changed by becoming alive in Christ. Like everyone apart from Christ, we're not capable of being the person God intends.

However, as we accept his gift of new life by faith and appropriate our new identity, we begin to express his unique creation of us and in us. His handiwork is seen in who he created us to be.

Yet we see his signature creation of us in the things he calls us to do as we abide in who he created us to be.

The Circle of Identity and Calling

I fully appreciate the circular logic of all this, but so it is in identity and calling.

As our identity is changed by being rooted in his grace, our calling begins to be manifested through how we act and what we do.

As we live into our calling, God refines our identity, and our calling comes into clearer focus.

This is what Bob Clinton calls "Convergence" in The Making of a Leader. It's when our identity and calling are aligned so we experience the contentment of knowing who we are and the assurance that we're doing what we're designed to do.