Should We Find Our Identities in Christ?

21 December, 202420 December, 2024Marissa

Sometimes, as Christians, we hear and use phrases that sound good but aren’t actually in the Bible. Many common Christian phrases like “What would Jesus do?” are inspired by scriptures, but aren’t actually a quote from anywhere in the Bible. For phrases like this, we need to make sure that we’re not just using them because they sound good. We need to check if they’re actually backed up by the Bible. Sometimes they’re accurate according to scripture, and sometimes they’re not.

We talked about one example earlier this year: “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” This sounds like something from Proverbs, but it’s really from a 17th-century poem by Samuel Butler. In this case, the popular phrase distorts the meaning of similar (though not identical) Bible scriptures.

Another common phrase in modern Christianity is “find your identity in God” or “find our identity in Christ.” There is no scripture that tells us to do this exact thing; it’s not a quote from the Bible. That doesn’t necessarily make it inaccurate, but it does mean we need to check it out carefully and examine the underlying assumptions.

Based on the tagline for this blog (“Finding our true selves in the people God created us to be”), you can probably guess that I think finding our identity in God is a solid Biblical idea. But it is good to remain open to questioning our assumptions and being corrected by the Bible, particularly for topics like this where it’s not a quote from scripture. It’s good for us to study to prove whether our assumptions are right or wrong.

Image of people standing in a circle, holding hands to pray, overlaid with text from Genesis 1:27, NET version: “God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.” — Image by Matt Vasquez from Lightstock

What Does It Mean?

When someone says you should “find your identity in Christ,” what do they mean? Answering this question is a first-step toward checking if the phrase lines-up with scripture.

The word “identity” in this context means “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is” and “the characteristics determining who or what a person or thing is” (Google/Oxford Languages definition). It’s about who you are and who you or others think you are. In today’s world, it’s become increasingly common to talk about how we identify ourselves. We’re told we can fill in the blank in, “I identify as …” however we want. People today want to determine their own identities.

In a Christian context, the phrase “find your identity in Christ” generally means a couple similar things. It means we should let God define who we are rather than listening to our own “I am” or the world’s “you are” statements. In other words, we believe what He says about us is true even (especially) when it contradicts what we might say about ourselves or what others say about us.

It can also mean becoming more and more like Jesus until His identity becomes our own. If identity is “who or what a person” is and “the characteristics determining” who they are, then having the same identity as Christ is just another way of saying we should become like Him. For the purposes of this post, we’ll operate on the assumption that “find your identity in Christ/God” means 1) believe the things God says about who you are, and 2) become like Jesus Christ. As we’ll see, both of those ideas do show up in the Bible.

Image of two hands, palms up, overlaid with text from Matt. 5:13, 14, NET version: "You are the salt of the earth. ... You are the light of the world." — Image by Who Is Like The Lord from Lightstock

What God Says About You

I’ve written about this topic before, but it’s worth revisiting in today’s context. There are many places in the Bible where God makes “you are” statements to His people or where God’s people make “I am” statements that we can identify with. From scripture, we know that we are (collectively) the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 6:16-18) and we belong to Him (1 Cor. 6:19-21). God also describes us as people worth dying for (Rom. 5:8), as salt and light in this earth (Matt. 5:13-14), as called and chosen (1 Pet. 2:9), and as friends and siblings of Jesus Christ (John 15:14, Rom. 8:16-17). We are greatly loved and highly valued by both the Father and the Son (John 3:16; 15:13-14).

We can also look at examples of how God interacted with specific people to see how He encouraged them to redefine how they see themselves to line-up with how He saw them. Let’s consider Moses for a moment. When God appeared to him in the burning bush, He called Moses to free his people from slavery in Egypt. Moses did not think he was qualified (Exodus 4:1-17). He protested, “they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice” and “I am not eloquent … for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue” (Ex. 4:1, 10, WEB)).” God answered both these protests; He could make Moses believable and give him the ability to speak. God did agree to make Aaron Moses’s spokesperson, but with God’s help Moses eventually grew to the point that he could speak on his own (all of Deuteronomy, for example, is an address from Moses to God’s people). God knew who Moses could be, and He helped Him get there. God did a similar thing for Jeremiah.

The Lord’s message came to me,
“Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I chose you.
Before you were born I set you apart.
I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

I answered, “Oh, Sovereign Lord, Really I do not know how to speak well enough for that, for I am too young.”The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ But go to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you.Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, for I will be with you to protect you,” says the Lord. Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I will most assuredly give you the words you are to speak for me. Know for certain that I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted.”
Jeremiah 1:4-10, NET

In terms related to our topic today, Jeremiah didn’t identify as a prophet. He identified as a poor speaker too young for the Lord’s important work. But God had a different identity for him that was backed-up by God’s protection and power. Later, God offered even more reassurance, saying, “I, the Lord, hereby promise to make you as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. You will be able to stand up against all who live in the land” (Jer. 1:18, NET). Like many of us today, Jeremiah probably wouldn’t have described himself as a strong person, but with God’s help he became someone who can stand against any foe (as we can today with God’s armor [Eph. 6:10-18]).

Image of a couple reading the Bible to their two daughters overlaid with text from Eph. 5:1-2, NET version: “Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.” — Image by Marcus from Lightstock

Becoming Like Jesus Christ

Jesus is our model for living a Christian life. If we say we have a relationship with Him and His Father, then we ought “to walk just as Jesus walked” (1 John 2:6, NET). He left “an example for you to follow in his steps” (1 Pet. 2:21, NET; see also John 13:14-15). Over and over, New Testament writers point to Jesus as the one we’re supposed to be like. We “walk in love, even as Christ also loved us” (Eph. 5:2, WEB), we’re told to “please his neighbor for his good to build him up” because that’s what Christ did (Rom. 15:1-3, NET), and “have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had” (Phil. 2:5, NET).

One of the goals of our Christian walk is to become like Jesus, inside and out. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians about how we understand the things of God because God’s spirit is inside us, he also said “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16, NET). In the same passage, he talks about those who are “mature” (1 Cor. 2:6) and those who are “infants in Christ” (1 Cor. 3:1, NET). I think the implication here is that the more mature we are as Christians, the more we understand the things of God and have the mind of Christ (see also Heb. 5:11-6:3). Becoming like God is our goal.

(See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children—and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him.Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure).
1 John 3:1-3, NET

Much of what we are told to do as God’s followers is “so that you may be like your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:45, NET; see Matt. 5:43-48). He is making us fully part of His family, to the point that “we will be like him” in the future. When we have that hope of eternal life with God as His family members, the natural and necessary response is to work on making ourselves like God the Father and Jesus Christ.

A Higher Identity

Image of a woman facing the camera, with different images of the same woman reflected in three mirrors behind her. Image is overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "There isn’t a Bible verse telling us to find our identities in Jesus, but the phrase does reflect solidly Biblical ideas: believe what God says about who you are and become like Jesus Christ." — Image by Respostas com Você from Pixabay

Being part of God’s family is an identity that is higher, better, and far more important than our other identities. Paul is a great example of someone who had an “identity” that most people of his time would envy, but he gave it up so that he could identify with Christ.

If someone thinks he has good reasons to put confidence in human credentials, I have more: I was circumcised on the eighth day, from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. I lived according to the law as a Pharisee.In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless. But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things—indeed, I regard them as dung!—that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness—a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:4-11, NET

Paul didn’t stop being an Israelite, Benjamite, or highly-educated Pharisee when he started following Jesus. Those identities just didn’t matter nearly as much anymore. Similarly, I don’t stop being a wife, mother, American, red-head, or someone with a master’s degree when I follow Jesus, but those identities aren’t nearly as important as my primary identity as a Christian. Being Christian makes me a better wife and mother, putting both of those roles in a new perspective. My citizenship in heaven (Phil. 3:20) supersedes my identity as an American. My visible/ethnic identities like red-head and white take a back seat to knowing I’m a child of God, part of one human race He created (Acts 17:26-28). My education becomes something that’s not worth boasting about because knowing God is so much more important (Jer. 9:23-34; 1 Cor. 1:26-31).

There isn’t a Bible verse telling us to find our identities in Jesus, but the phrase does reflect solidly Biblical ideas: believe what God says about who you are and become like Jesus Christ. Believing God is a first-step of faith (Heb. 11:6), and that includes believing the things He says about us and about the future He has planned for us as His family members. As we grow in our relationships with God and follow the example of Jesus Christ, we’re supposed to become more and more like Him. Just like Moses, Jeremiah, Paul, and other faithful men and woman throughout the ages, we should find our primary identity–the fact of our being and the characteristics of who we are–in God.

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Song Recommendation: “You Say” by Lauren Daigle

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The Christian Community and Our Godly Identity

16 November, 201915 November, 2019Marissa

In last week’s post, I talked about the new identities God gives us when we enter a relationship with Him. For those of us with a Western cultural mindset, “identity” is typically connected with “individualism” — who you are that makes you unique from everyone else. But the Bible was written by people with an Eastern cultural mindset, where identity is a more collective concept that involves how you fit in to a group or family.

When we find our identity in God, it is a collective as well as an individual thing. The Christian life isn’t meant to be an isolated one. We’re part of a community, a family. If we neglect to recognize that, then we’re missing out on a huge part of our identity as believers. And if we purposefully cut ourselves off from the community, we reject an incredible blessing.

Being in Christ Is Being in Community

I recently read a fascinating book called Participating In Christ by Michael J. Gorman. One of the key points he makes is that “to be in Christ is to be in community” (chapter 10). We miss this in English far more easily than we could if we read it in Greek.

“This life in Christ is lived not in isolation but only in community. (We must keep in mind that most of the words for ‘you’ in Paul’s letters are plural pronouns, and most often the imperatives are given in the second- [or third-] person plural form.) — (Gorman, Participating In Christ, Chapter 1)

“You (plural) are the temple of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:16). “By grace you (plural) are saved” (Eph. 2:5). We often read these verses, and many others like them, as a deeply individual thing but they’re addressed to a community. Our individual relationships with God are vital. But so is our communal relationship with God and His people. Read more →

It’s Amazing What Happens When God Gives You A New Identity

9 November, 201915 November, 2019Marissa

One of the main themes of this blog is my belief that we find our true identity when we connect with God and learn who He created us to be. In order to do that, sometimes we have to let go of the old ways we used to define ourselves.

People in the Bible had to do this, too. Moses went from prince of Egypt to shepherd in hiding to leader. Saul went from insignificant Benjamite to king of Israel (1 Sam. 9:16, 21). Paul went from a Jewish religious leader persecuting the church to preaching Jesus (Gal. 1:22-24). They all had to change big parts of their identities to become who God intended them to be.

We all have ways we define ourselves. I’m a writer, a sister, a teacher, a dancer, a daughter, an introvert, a person who struggles with anxiety. When we enter relationship with God, we’re called to use our roles and identities for Him. Sometimes, though, we need to leave parts of our identities behind that don’t line-up with His goodness and/or His plan. And we also get to add new aspects to our identities that make each of us a more whole, complete person.

Becoming A “New Man”

Our walk with God is one of transformation. We don’t stay the way we were before salvation. We learn to “walk worthy of the calling with which you were called” as we “grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ” (Eph. 4:1, 15, WEB). We can’t live in the same way as those who don’t know God once we’ve entered a covenant relationship with the Lord (Eph. 4:16-20).

What Does It Mean to Be the “Best Version” of Yourself? and How Can We Use That to Live More Authentically?

10 October, 20197 October, 2019Marissa

I once really puzzled someone by talking about being the best version of your true self. They wondered how there could be different versions of you. Aren’t you “yourself” all the time? What else could you be?

In some ways, this young man had an excellent point. For example, if you do something that hurts a friend and then say, “That wasn’t really me,” because it’s something your ideal self wouldn’t do that doesn’t make your friend feel better. That might not be how your idea self would act but you actually did the hurtful thing in real life.

Other people interact with each of us based on the assumption that what they see is the real version of you. They might also see your potential and encourage you toward it, but for them who you are right now is the only version of yourself that exists.

But there are also different roles we play based on context. And many of us struggle with feeling like there’s a true self we hide from the world and then a different self that we show other people. We might also think about an ideal self we don’t measure up to yet. So even though who you are right now is “yourself,” you might also feel like your true/best self isn’t who you’re living as right now.

What is a “best version” of you?

The idea that there’s a “best version” of you assumes there are several different versions. There’s the version of you that your parents, teachers, bosses, and other authority figures wanted you to be. There’s the version of you that fits in with the people you want to call friends. There’s the version of you that you don’t like very much when you look at yourself. There’s the version of you that makes you feel whole and authentic. I’m sure you could come up with others as well.

But are those really different versions of the real you? Or are you simply “you” and all those other “versions” are masks you wear or roles you choose to play?

This might just sound like nit-picking word choice, but there’s a difference between believing there are many versions of you and believing that you’re already your real self. If we go with the latter, being the best “version” of yourself isn’t about picking one of many versions that you want to be but rather about living authentically as the self you already are. Read more →

Who Are You? How to Take off Your Masks and Live with Integrity in Your Godly Identity

21 September, 201920 September, 2019Marissa

How many versions of you are there? Are you a different person behind the wheel of your car than you are when speaking to your grandmother? Do you play one part at work and another part with friends on the weekend? Do you hide parts of yourself or change the way you present yourself based on circumstances?

We all do this. To a certain extent, it’s useful to make your behavior fit the context. You don’t want to wear the same clothes, for example, to grub out a stump in the backyard as to attend a wedding. But when the change is more extreme — polite to a date but angry and vindictive when driving in traffic — it can be a problem.

Integrity comes form the Latin word integer, meaning something whole and complete in itself. If you are a person with integrity then there is only one version of you (“The True Meaning of Integrity” by So-Young Kang). You act with honesty and live by strong moral principles whether or not someone is watching. People with integrity apologize when they are wrong or cause inconvenience, they refuse to act viciously even when fighting, and they give others the benefit of the doubt (“7 Signs of People With Integrity” by Seth Meyers).

It’s very difficult to live with complete wholeness and consistency. And it’s well-nigh impossible to do so if you don’t know who you are and what you believe. As the Biblical writer James said, “he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed” (James 1:6, WEB). We need an anchor for our identity if we’re to live with integrity. Read more →

Exchanging Your Foundation Stones

29 September, 201816 October, 2018Marissa

Some people today treat identity as fluid, easy to change or choose. Whatever you “identify as” in the moment is what matters, and the rest of us are supposed to play along. But identity — the answer to “who are you?” — is actually something formed over time. All our experiences, our personality traits, our choices build who/what you are. There are parts of identity that we can’t change, and if you want to change the other parts it requires hard work and a fundamental shift in how we think and behave.

The word “fundamental” comes from the same root as “foundation” (Latin fundare “to found/lay a base for”). Many of our foundations are laid when we’re young. We ask questions like “Who am I?” and “What do I value?” and we figure out answers that stick with us as we grow. We might not be using those words, but nevertheless we pick up things that become part of our identities and create the lenses through which we see the world.

Building Blocks of Self

Let’s think of each of the things making up our identity as blocks that go into our foundations. Someone who grew up in a good, healthy family might have blocks like “I am loved,” “It is safe to trust other people,” and “I am allowed to have healthy boundaries.” Or they might have grown up in a good family, but still incorporated blocks like, “I am loved, but I’m not worthy of it” or “I can only trust people in my family.” Others, who perhaps didn’t grow up in a good situation at all, have blocks like, “I am not worth loving,” “Trusting other people always leads to me getting hurt,” or “My needs and wants will never be honored.”

These foundational ideas don’t always stay the same. You can swap some out or re-write them as more experiences happen and you make choices about how to live your life. You might lose good foundations as you grow and pick up new blocks that aren’t healthy and supportive. On the other hand, you can also over-write bad foundations and put more positive ideas into your identity. Read more →