The role of self-identification

Simply identifying myself first as a follower of Jesus Christ is not the end of spiritual battle. It turns out that there are many other ways that we self-identify that also play a key role in our spiritual life, too. When we accept as unchangeable aspects of ourselves things that God would have us shed - a tendency to superiority, desires that are not God's revealed will for us, unbridled anger - we give them a power over us that interferes with the transformation that should be ours in Christ Jesus. 

When we have done this, turning loose of them can require more than just deciding otherwise. We will likely need to renounce the lie that has warped us, and any spiritual influence that has taken root in our lives as the result of it.