I originally had a whole different article written on past sin (which I will retype in the future), and it randomly deleted, so I went upstairs to just clear my head before typing something up again. Not wanting to think, I opened up Instagram Reels, switching between my ministry account (linked here) and my personal one. Both were filled with clips promoting and celebrating things that literally go against God. It seems that more and more these types of clips are clouding my feed, but that is just the way of the world. Specifically, I have noticed that a lot of the posts have to do with zodiac signs as personality traits. The idea behind zodiac signs is basically that depending on where stars, based off when you are born, you can look at a horoscope to see your future and have certain personality traits that align with your sign. The origins (article on the history linked here) more had to do with predicting the future, but the use today, seen on social media, more justifies attitudes and behavior based off one's zodiac sign.
Similarly but more commonly prevalent in Christian churches is the Enneagram. The Enneagram is a personality system divided into nine types by your greatest need/desire. You also receive a secondary type or "wing" based on what type is next to your main type, such as being a wing one or eight if you are a type nine. This is something that is commonly now seen in the churches, and tools have been created to connect your Enneagram type to your relationship with Christ, which is extremely harmful to the church. Churches should be utilizing Scripture for sermons, especially on identity. There are two great podcast episodes on the Enneagram by Abide Podcast (on Apple podcast) and Cultish (linked here) that give the history of it. The most important thing that you need to know is that there are occult links to the origins of this system (click here for a great in-depth article on this). I personally was deeply into the Enneagram before learning the truth about it, and it honestly perpetuated the worst of my personality than helped me. Why? Besides the level of occult attached to it, I was putting my identity and trust into something that I was not meant to.
This misplacement of identity is a main commonality between the Enneagram and zodiac. When your identity is placed in things of this world and not God, you will be negatively affected because your view of self is not rooted in God or His Word. I have never been into the zodiac, so I don't have any personal testimony with it. However, with the Enneagram, I lived by it the end of 2019 and the first half of 2020. My type according to the Enneagram was a Type 6, the type that most dealt with worry and fea. In my past, I dealt with deep perfectionism, which I have since been delivered from (article on that linked here). Looking back, since I was identifying myself with the traits of the type, I was becoming more the type than just associating the type to match who I already was. Further, I started to exhibit more attributes of the type because I guess subconsciously I felt that it was just how I was supposed to act. Thus, I justified my feelings and spent a lot of time looking up Enneagram things on Pinterest to help understand myself and even trying to understand those around me. I am sure similar can be said about the zodiac. You can see why this is all so false, right?
Our identities are found in Christ. Everything changed in my life when I realized the full extent of the gospel (yes, I grew up Christian, but did not grasp the full true gospel until last summer), fully understanding that I am a sinner who needs saving and that Jesus willingly did that by taking on all my sin and its consequences to satisfy the wrath of God, so I no longer face any condemnation (Romans 3:23-25). His blood is what makes me enough, not anything that I can do. That is the gift of grace! Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) says: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." All my worth comes from Jesus, who makes all those who have Him as Lord and Savior over their lives righteous before God (2 Corinthians 5:21). We are made a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and adopted into God's Kingdom as His children (Ephesians 1:5). Putting your identity in yourself or things of this world will not only fail you but will hinder you (Romans 12:2). The world is against you (John 16:33), if you have not already noticed from the amount the world celebrates things that go against God and ridicules and tries to cancel anything that follows God's Word. Further, we are just sinners without God, who fall every single day, so we cannot put our identity in anything we do (Romans 3:23). Moreover, the Bible discusses how our hearts can deceive us (Jeremiah 17:9).
You are a child of God, saved by the blood of Christ, not a type or a sign. You do not exclusively exhibit traits associated with them, but reflect and are an image-bearer of God (Genesis 1:27). If you have been putting your identity and living by one of these false systems, I encourage you to repent and to turn to God for help, the true maker and source of our identities. It is not stars or your fears/desires that will save you, satisfy you, or help you through trials of life. Only God can fulfill these roles. If you're searching for answers on who you are, the most reliable source is the Bible.
NOTE: I was going to put Bible verses here against the Zodiac and Enneagram, but they go along with the next article in this series, so I will put them in there instead.
Bible Verses on Identity
John 1:12 (ESV)
But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.
Ephesians 1:5 (ESV)
He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will.
Romans 6:6 (ESV)
We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Genesis 1:27 (ESV)
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Galatians 2:20 (ESV)
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Ephesians 4:24 (ESV)
And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
By: Bible and Hot Cocoa (IG: @bibleandhotcocoa)
Jules is the founder of Bible and Hot Cocoa. She is a law student with a passion for standing up for those who cannot speak for themselves. In any free time, she loves to read, study theology, write, and draw or paint. Jules's favorite book of the Bible would have to be a tie among John, Psalms, and Romans (as of now), and her favorite figure besides Jesus is King David or Paul.
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