Unashamed Identity

Scripture:
“Whoever acknowledges Me before others, I will also acknowledge before My Father in heaven.
But whoever disowns Me before others, I will disown before My Father in heaven.”

Matthew 10:32–33

Some names in history don’t fade - they burn.
Polycarp and Perpetua were two of them.
Separated by time, age, and circumstance - an old bishop and a young mother - yet united by one unshakable confession:

“I am a Christian.”

They didn’t have platforms.
They didn’t have freedom.
But they had conviction.

And that conviction cost them everything.

🔥 The Fire and the Faith

Polycarp was 86 years old when the Roman soldiers came for him.
He didn’t hide - he welcomed them in, offered them food, and asked for time to pray.

When the governor demanded, “Swear by Caesar! Deny Christ and live!”
Polycarp replied,

“Eighty and six years I have served Him, and He has done me no wrong.
How then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”

They tied him to the stake, lit the fire - and the flames refused to touch him.
Eyewitnesses said the fire bent around his body like a shield of light.
When the sword finally ended his life, his faith still stood unbroken.

He didn’t just die for Christ -
he lived unashamed of Him.

🕊️ The Arena and the Answer

Decades later, in North Africa, a 22-year-old mother named Perpetua sat in a Roman prison with her infant son in her arms.
Her father begged her, “Think of your child! Deny Christ and live!”
She pointed to a clay pot and said,

“Can it be called by any other name than what it is?
Then neither can I be called anything other than what I am - a Christian.”

She was baptized in prison.
When her day came, she faced wild beasts in the arena.
A charging bull threw her to the ground, tearing her robe - and she calmly stood, adjusting it to preserve her modesty.
When the young gladiator hesitated to strike, trembling at her courage, she guided his hand and whispered,

“Stand fast in the faith. Love one another.”

Her courage outlived her captors.
Her story still echoes across centuries of fear and faith.

⚡ Identity Forged in Fire

Their courage wasn’t born from personality - it was born from proximity.
They walked so closely with Jesus that fear had nowhere left to stand.

And now their stories turn to us and ask:
What’s your identity anchored to?

We chase labels - careers, approval, reputation.
But those names fade.
In Christ, identity isn’t earned - it’s inherited.

You are chosen.
Redeemed.
Known.
Marked by mercy and sealed with fire.

The world will try to rename you.
The enemy will whisper lies about who you are.
But Heaven has already written your name in flame - and Jesus still says,

“You are Mine.”

💥 Unashamed Here and Now

We don’t face lions or flames today - but we face the same pressure.
A culture that says, “Keep your faith private. Keep it safe.”
But silence never saved anyone.
Confession does.

Romans 10:9 still stands:

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Faith hidden is faith starving.
Confession feeds courage.
And courage fuels witness.

🔥 My Fire

I know what it feels like to lose identity.
To have the world strip everything away - the job, the peace, the sense of purpose - until you start asking, “Who am I now?”

But in my darkest moment, Jesus whispered,

“You’re still Mine.”

That’s where I found my fire.
Not in achievement.
Not in applause.
But in belonging.

He healed me.
He renamed me.
He called me son.

And if He stood for me at Calvary - I’ll stand for Him now.

🕊️ Stand. Speak. Shine.

Unashamed identity isn’t built in comfort - it’s forged in fire.
And maybe that’s where God has you right now: in refining, not punishment.
Because what He’s building in you is stronger than what’s burning around you.

So stand.
Speak.
Shine.

The world doesn’t need a quieter church.
It needs a braver one.
A burning one.

Because you’re not just surviving the fire -
you’re becoming it.

🔥 If this message stirred something in you, share it.
Help spread the fire.
Subscribe to the MTN.fire Podcast, follow on social, and keep your eyes on Christ…
and your heart on the flame.

Testimony. Truth. Fire.