Who Does God Say I Am? Your Identity in Christ

I’m sitting here once again overwhelmed and weighed down with the pressures of this life and the reminders of all of my shortcomings. The lies often quickly cloud out my thoughts, but then I start thinking, wait, who does God say I am?

The recurring struggle with Christian identity is something I see so often and struggle with myself, so I decided to dig a little deeper and do some research. God says that we believers are loved, chosen, adopted, redeemed, beloved and so much more! So why do I continue to struggle with this? This struggle with identity in Christ ensues when we don’t fully understand or take hold of who our identity comes from. This is either because we don’t fully believe God’s word as truth, we aren’t trusting God’s authority entirely, or we’re allowing fear to prevent these truths from hitting our hearts. Let’s look into what all of that means and what we need to know to be victorious.

Identity is based on only one premise, Jesus. It doesn’t depend on us at all, in fact it never has! In a world where people are so often defined by their careers, accomplishments and achievements, it’s easy to get wrapped up in this way of thinking, but guess what!? Christian identity has nothing to do with you. None of this identity stuff was ever really about personal empowerment but God’s truth.

Our identity is not based on us or what we do, but who’s we are. It’s kind of like DNA. Our DNA has nothing to do with what we do or don’t do, but everything to do with our physical genetics and lineage. You can’t deny it. You can’t change it and you certainly can’t lose it. You don’t have to earn it or work for it either. Thank goodness.

God is the only one with the authority to tell you who you are because He alone is your Creator. God’s “labels” are facts and based on truth versus fictitious feelings and opinions that we or others place on us. So again, who God says we are (our identity) has NOTHING to do with us or our performance. God-given identity is yours for the taking if you so choose. God’s word, the bible, has so much to say about this!

Understanding and taking hold of truth. What is truth? The word of God in its entirety is in fact, our truth as believers. Every single word of it. Understanding and resting in Its authority is key.

Truth is defined as: (here on dictionary.com )

• a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like:
• (often initial capital letter) ideal or fundamental reality apart from and transcending perceived experience:

Truth is found in his Word (the Bible)  and in Christ’s authority alone. To find your true identity in God,  you must make a choice to trust Him and believe these truths. This choice may have to be reoccurring frequently and that’s OK. Practice makes progress and the more you choose to hold onto these truths, the more confidence it will build toward your Christ-given identity over time.

So let’s jump in, who does God say we are?

The Object of His Love, Worth dying for – 1 John 4:10 NASB
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

A Child of Light – Ephesians 5:7-8 NASB
Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light

The Light of the World – Matthew 5:14-16 NASB
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Chosen – 1 Peter 2:9 NIV
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Beloved & Chosen – 2 Thessalonians 2:13 NASB
But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

A Child of God – 1 John 3:1 NASB
See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

His Workmanship – Ephesians 2:10 NASB
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Freed From Sin – Romans 6:17-18 NASB
But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

An Heir, Adopted Son/Daughter – Galatians 4:7 NASB
Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

Accepted – Romans 8:1 NASB
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Redeemed – Ephesians 1:7 NASB
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.

These are just a handful of the things God says about us. In fact, there are so many more verses that I can’t possibly share them all here. After all, they say the bible is the greatest love letter ever written. You’ll have to dig in and allow him to lavish His love over you for yourself!

Choosing to Believe and Trust

Believe & trust the only Ultimate Authority.

We have to know Him to trust Him and we have to Trust him to truly believe our identity is in Him. Knowing Him comes from reading His word and allowing it to transform you through the power of the Holy Spirit. So who does God say you are? Do you Believe him when he says this in his word? If not why? In what areas are you choosing not to trust God? It all comes down to this one question. Choose to believe him and take him at his word. Walk in it!

Believe (definition according to Merriam-Webster ):

• to have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something
• to accept the word or evidence of

Stop believing lies. Now you may have already known the above things, but have you actually allowed these truths to penetrate your heart and your spirit? Don’t skim these. Often times we refuse to believe His truth and thus choose to believe the lies the enemy feeds us instead.

I love this excerpt Pricilla Shirer shares in page 55 of her book, Fervent: A Woman’s Battle Plan to Serious, Specific and Strategic Prayer (< Amazon affiliate link)

“If I were your enemy, I’d devalue your strength and magnify your insecurities until they dominate how you see yourself, disabling and disarming you from fighting back, from being free, from being who God has created you to be. I’d work hard to ensure that you never realize what God has given you so you’ll doubt the power of God within you.”

This gives a pretty vivid picture doesn’t it? Don’t let critics, experiences, circumstances, or the enemy define your identity. They are not worthy sources. Trust the only One who has the authority to tell you who you are, your Creator. Growing up fatherless, experiencing trauma, betraying your spouse, overcome with anxiety, failing over and over and over again, rejected, abused, confused… these things don’t define your identity. Only Jesus has the power to do that.

So what lies are you believing? I don’t know about you but I’m pretty good at convincing myself of things that often aren’t true. I can say I’m somewhat emotionally unstable at times (when I’m not relying on God) what about you? Constantly tossed to and fro by “feelings”, it’s no wonder putting our identity in any aspect of ourselves is fruitless.

ACTION: pray and ask the father to reveal the lies that you have believed. He is faithful and desires to show you this. when he does answer make sure you write the lies down because chances are these are things that will come back time and time again. What thoughts often come to your head in the midst of a struggle? (i.e. “I’ll never get it together” “I’m just a mom” “Why can’t I get it together” “Nobody likes me”…)

Put faith in action and freedom ensues. It would be silly for me to not include the role that faith and fear take in all of this. Trusting and believing takes faith, and often, the lack of faith we struggle with is rooted in fear. Fear that we aren’t measuring up to some standard that we or others have set (remember those critics?). Fear that if we don’t do things they won’t get done right, fear of failure, fear of success, need I go on?

One action that has helped me to grow in my trust of God is journaling. Specifically starting with Gratitude journaling.

So now that we’ve recognized some lies and discussed the truth, let’s compare the two. How do God’s truths compare with the lies you recognized? They aren’t at all true are they!?

Drop the lies, fears, labels and rags. You don’t have to hold onto them anymore. Dawn your crown and start acting like who you are… straight up royalty. You’re a daughter of the king of kings. Don’t you know who your Father is!? Start acting like it!

I encourage you to start memorizing or print out some of these identity truths to look back on when the battle ensues once more. Your enemy, the devil, won’t ever let up and he will consistently try to devalue you. Believing and trusting the truths of your Christian identity is a choice. A choice to have faith and remind ourselves that what God says is more important than our feelings.

Digging into all of this truth has been life changing for me. We together now have actionable tips to recognize not only the lies, but esteem the truths of who God says we are. I encourage you to journal your findings. Maybe creating a table with the lie vs. God’s truth.  Doing this can act as a powerful tool at our quick disposal to combat the lies when they fly at us. The quicker you combat that thinking, the sooner you’ll feel better and grounded in your true identity. Remember, the only valid source to receive our identity from is The Source, Christ.

My prayer is that you will be empowered and encouraged to rest in your True Identity. You are a chosen, beloved, child of the King of Kings. Let’s link arms and pray! God is faithful.

What is your biggest struggle when it comes to identity? Comment below!