What Does It Mean To Have An Identity in Christ
This post is part 4 in a 4-part series on identity and self-worth. An identity in Christ will absolutely transform your life, your mind, and your relationships. I know because I have walked in the opposite for so long and God has completely renewed my mind in this area of my life.
And it has been absolutely freeing!
The first 3 posts in this series discuss how an identity in Christ can impact different areas of your life:
Part 1: How an identity in Christ can change your perspective on chronic pain: What Makes You Valuable When You Have Chronic Pain?
Part 2: How an identity in Christ can impact your marriage: The Bitter Bus: How To Step Off If You’re Stuck
Part 3: How an identity in Christ can impact your parenting: How Your Self-Worth Influences Your Parenting
Of all the posts in this series, this one is the most important.
You can’t have a Christ-centered self-worth and identity without knowing what God says about you and how God sees you. And we have to dive into God’s Word and some important truths about who the God of all creation says you are.
To bring it fill-circle, having an identity in Christ means you see yourself, you value yourself, through the lens of who Christ says you are. Through the lens of the cross. Through the lens of God’s Holy Word.
Two Views: Two Opposite Directions
What really helped me understand who I am in Christ was realizing the common traps I fell in about what makes me valuable, worthy, important, etc. What I thought was “right” and “good” was actually a self-worth and identity based on subtle but trapping lies.
The enemy would like nothing more than to get you trapped in the lies that tell you your value, your worth, what makes you good enough wholly depend on your career, your success, your family, your marriage, your relationships, your children, your health, your friends, etc. It could be any number of things that is not in centered on Christ.
To illustrate this, below are subtle lies that are easy to get trapped in. On the surface, they may seem accurate. But underneath, if you let each one determine your worth, it is a trap. Each lie is followed by Biblical Truths found in Scripture of who God says you are.
A Lie and A Truth
Lie #1: Your career makes you important. It’s your success and your job that make you valuable.
Truth #1: You are valuable because Jesus, who chose the cross, chose you as His own. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” John 15:16. Read that verse a couple times if you need to. And let God’s Words really sink in.
Although your career may bring you great joy, certainly can be a gift from God, and you may be following God’s will for you – it does not define you.
Lie #2: Your past mistakes (what comes to mind here) – you can’t get past it. There is no moving forward from that. You are stuck. You will never change.
Truth #2: Your worth is not tied to your mistakes. Jesus, who chose the cross, chose the cross to forgive your sins and in that forgiveness on the cross, you. Are. Made. New. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Lie #3: I am a good person (I do x,y,z – what comes to mind here that you can list off that makes you feel like a “good person”). I am a good person ( I don’t do x,y,z – what comes to mind here that you can list off that you refrain from doing). My worth is dependent upon what I do and what I choose not to do.
Truth #3: What you choose to do and not do can reflect your character and can certainly honor God, but your identity and self-worth does not stem from that. Your worth would be completely dependent on you if that were true. God does not tell you “you are more valuable to Me today because you did …(fill in the blank here with a good thing you did today). There is not enough good things you can do to earn your way. Your worth is cemented in Christ’s death on the cross and through Him only, are you good. “Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:8.
Lie #4: Your worth depends on what other people think of you. It depends on whether or not they accept you.
Truth #4: It doesn’t. In the book, The Search for Significance it is put this way: “Isn’t it amazing that we turn to others who have a perspective as limited and darkened as our own to discover our worth! Rather than relying on God’s steady, uplifting reassurance of who we are, we depend on others who base our worth on our ability to meet their standards.”
I love the way that is put. Their opinion does not determine your value; it does not define you. God does not say to you “you’re important to me because so-and-so (who comes to mind here?) thinks highly of you.” How absurd that is and how silly! But I believed that lie for a long time. That what other’s thought of me could make me more or less important and valuable.
You are accepted by the God of all creation. And Jesus, who chose the cross, chose you as His own. “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” John 6:37.
More Resources for an Identity in Christ
Most importantly, dive into your Bible. I use the ESV and love it, but whatever version you have, start there. Start reading and you will get to know Jesus. As you get to know Him, you will see yourself differently.
The Search for Significance mentioned above is also an excellent resource! This book has been eye-opening to me. I cannot recommend it enough. If you choose to read it, I recommend looking up the Bible verses when you are reading. Have your Bible next you and when a verse is referenced, stop and look it up. There’s something powerful when you open God’s Word rather than just quickly reading the verse(s) as they are printed in the book.
Lastly, to learn more, Pastor Kaiser and I discuss self-worth and identity in this Facebook Live interview with CrossRoads Counseling Ministries. I encourage you to watch it if you haven’t had a chance. We dive into the freeing transformation that a Christ-centered identity and self-worth can have.
How have you learned to see yourself as God sees you? I would love to hear! Leave a comment below or feel free to reach out to me via email.
Yes! I know I would have been a more content person earlier in my life had I realized these Biblical truths. What potential life- changing wisdom for parents to pass on to their children.
Thank you, Nancy! I hope to pass on these Biblical truths to my kiddos too as they grow and mature.