TLDR: Discover how to transform traditional self-help affirmations into Kingdom-centered principles that guide daily decision-making. Learn why speaking identity-based affirmations about being a good husband, father, and leader creates more sustainable transformation than unrealistic fantasy declarations about wealth and success.
What?
The second thing I do every morning in my morning savers is my affirmations. I used to have these affirmations of dreams and goals below my top values. We gotta be careful with these affirmations. A lot of gurus and self-help folks tell us to do our affirmations every day and say them out like they’re current, in the current time and the right now.
Sometimes, at least for me, I’ve been too far outreaching. “I’m a billionaire. I’ve helped thousands and thousands of people do this, that and the other thing and all that.” So talking in my mastermind group with the colleagues there, we’ve kind of come to a new balance on setting our affirmations and really setting them as principles that we live by.
Right now, I don’t have them quite memorized, but “I live with integrity.” Actually, part of my mission statement is in there. “I live with integrity, loving, living, and sharing with my family, friends, and community about God, my creator, Jesus, my Savior, and the Holy Spirit, my guide.”
And that’s a big part of it. It’s about “I’m a good husband, father, and leader.” It’s really about those principles that guide all my decision making, all my thinking, all my direction, things that I can really see and measure if I’ve been doing them or not. It’s not about a role or position but rather about a state of being, acting, or identity.
Why?
This experience revealed something crucial about the difference between fantasy-based affirmations and Kingdom-centered identity declarations. Many self-help approaches encourage us to declare unrealistic outcomes as if they’re already true, which can create internal conflict when our reality doesn’t match our declarations.
Working with my mastermind colleagues helped me discover that affirmations work better when they focus on who I am and how I operate rather than what I want to achieve. The problem with “I’m a billionaire” type affirmations is that they can become disconnected from actual daily choices, values and behaviors.
Those affirmations I speak out each morning come after I complete my morning silence and prayer time, and it rolls very well together. I do that silence, that meditation with just listening and clearing everything out, praying that the Lord protect that space for our conversation and let nothing else in. And then I go into the affirmations.
Lesson
The key shift is moving from outcome-based affirmations to principle-based affirmations. Instead of declaring future achievements, I declare present identity and character commitments. These affirmations focus on principles that guide all my decision making, thinking, and direction – things I can really see and measure whether I’ve been doing them or not.
Effective Kingdom affirmations should be:
– Grounded in biblical identity rather than worldly success metrics
– Focused on character and relationships rather than achievements
– Measurable in daily behavior and choices
– Connected to your mission and calling as a Kingdom Family Leader
– Integrated with your prayer and silence time
The flow from silence into affirmations creates a natural progression: first clearing your mind and connecting with God, then declaring the identity and principles He’s called you to live by. This grounds your affirmations in relationship with Him rather than in self-generated motivation.
When affirmations are rooted in Kingdom identity – being a good husband, father, leader who lives with integrity – they become reminders of who God has called you to be rather than wishful thinking about what you want to have.
Apply
Evaluate your current affirmations (if you have them): Are they fantasy-based (“I am a millionaire”) or identity-based (“I am a faithful steward”)? Are they outcome-focused or character-focused?
Write down in the Doobly Doo: What are 2-3 Kingdom identity affirmations you could speak each morning that would guide your decision making as a husband, father, and leader? Focus on who you are and how you operate rather than what you want to achieve.
Consider how your affirmations connect to your mission statement and core values. How can they become daily reminders of the principles that should guide all your thinking and direction?
Tomorrow we’ll talk about visualization, the third part in the morning savers: silence, affirmation, visualization, exercise, reading, and scribing.
You be blessed!
Morning Savers Part 2: Affirmations That Anchor Kingdom Identity Over Fantasy Goals
