Welcome to the blog today! My mom is here visiting for a few days, so I’m enjoying our time together. She’s our first official guest in the new house!
It seems like we hear a lot these days about identity or finding our identity. What does that even mean?
Here’s what I found on the website YourDictionary.
“The definition of identity is who you are, the way you think about yourself, the way you are viewed by the world, and the characteristics that define you.“
So what defines you? How do you identify yourself? I think many times we identify ourselves by the roles we play. But here’s what I’m coming to realize about my identity.
It’s not in being a wife.
It’s not in being a mom.
It’s not in a job title or occupation.
It’s not in accomplishments.
It’s not even wrapped up in the ministry I do.
It’s not in what other people think of you. (I can get caught up in this one.)
It’s who I am in Christ. It’s seeing myself as God sees me.
And the same is true for you.
So how can we as Christian women find our identity? Here are eight ways a wise woman will find her identity in Christ.
1. She recognizes that she is a child of God.
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” ~John 1:12
If we have trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are His daughters. First He created us and then He redeemed us. If we’re moms, all those emotions of love and joy and compassion that we feel for our children, our Heavenly Father feels for us.
2. She knows that God loves her.
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ~Romans 8:38-39
What a verse to lean on! There is nothing in or out of this world that can separate us from God’s love. Maybe someone that I thought loved me doesn’t act like they do anymore. I never have to doubt God’s love. It is constant and sure.
3. She understands that she is fearfully and wonderfully made.
“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” ~Psalm 139:14
Remarkably, wondrously, marvelously – that’s how you and I were made. God knit our bodies together in His own unique plan for us. He gave us our strengths and weaknesses, our gifts and talents and even our shortcomings. After all, those are what drive us to rely on Him. Nothing about the way we’re made is a mistake.
4. She finds comfort in knowing that God thinks about her.
“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!” ~Psalm 139:17
I don’t think my mind can truly grasp the truth that God thinks many thoughts about me. What a comfort that is, to know that an all-powerful, all-knowing, always present God has me and my needs – and you and yours – on His mind.
5. She remembers that she is God’s workmanship, created for a purpose.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” ~Ephesians 2:10
Know that we are each created for a purpose. No matter our age or stage of life, God has something for us to accomplish.
6. She rejoices because she is free from the power of sin.
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” ~Hebrews 6:6
We won’t be perfect until we get to Heaven. However, because of our salvation and through the power of the Holy Spirit, we don’t have to sin. We can have victory and not be enslaved to the passions of the flesh. That anger problem? The bitterness? That tongue that gets you into trouble? We can break free from those sins with the Lord’s help.
7. She believes that God hears her prayers.
“But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.” ~Psalm 66:19-20
We have a God who hears and answers our prayers. We can rest in that truth even we don’t see the outcome we want right away.
8. She knows that one day she will be like Him.
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” ~1 John 3:2
One day we will see Jesus. Our sinful nature will disappear. We will live and reign with Christ forever. Surely there’s no greater identity we could want for ourselves!
We will have many roles during our lifetime – daughter, sister, friend, student, employee, wife, mother, business owner, grandmother – the list could go on. But as we live out each of those roles, through the changing seasons of life, we can always rest in who we are as a beloved child of God.
Related posts:
- 5 Things to Know About God’s Plan for Your Life
- 4 Defeating Thoughts and How to Overcome Them
- What I Want to Say to Guilt and Shame the Next Time They Show Up
I’ve just been thinking about this recently! Your post is encouraging me as I think about what it means to be a child of God.
Thankful that I can rest in being His child and that I don’t have to earn His love or His favor.
I find it interesting that it’s super easy for me to believe & embrace all 8 of these aspects of identity in Christ…and yet, I still struggle to let go of *also* thinking my achievements define me. :-/
Yes, this is me, thinking my accomplishments are what define me. Always a work in progress, aren’t we?