Chapter Two
Who I Am in Christ

I used to ask a lot of people who I was.

Sometimes not directly.
Sometimes not out loud.
But in the way I dressed, the way I spoke, the way I agreed when I should’ve stayed silent or stayed silent when I should’ve stood up, I was constantly asking:
Do you approve of me?

I shaped myself by other people’s preferences.
And I lost sight of the One whose image I was made in.

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

The truth is, identity doesn’t begin with who I think I am.
It begins with who God says I am.

“You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22)

Those were the Father’s words to Jesus.
But now, because I’m in Christ, those words belong to me too.

“To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)

That’s not a metaphor. That’s not religious poetry. That’s identity.

I don’t have to perform for love.
I don’t have to achieve to belong.
I am a child of God. Period.

But I didn’t always live that way. And sometimes, even now, I forget.
I let people label me. I let shame narrate my story. I let fear name me.

But then I open the Word.
And the lies start to lose their grip.

This is who God says I am:

“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)

“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.” (1 Peter 2:9)

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit.” (John 15:16)

“We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

This is the truth I’m learning to live from, not to earn identity, but to walk in the one I’ve already been given.

If Jesus is the Truth, then everything He says about me is true, even when I don’t feel it.

So now, when shame tries to define me, I say, I am forgiven.
When fear tries to limit me, I say, I am more than a conqueror.
When rejection tries to silence me, I say, I am chosen.

And when I forget who I am, I go back to the feet of Jesus and remember whose I am.

Let me ask you something I’ve had to ask myself:

What names have you been answering to that God never gave you?

Failure?
Unworthy?
Too much?
Not enough?

Those aren’t His words. They never were.

You’re not defined by your past.
You’re not limited by your weakness.
You are not who the world says you are.
You are who God says you are.
And if you don’t know what that means yet, open His Word and find out.

Don’t build your identity on shifting opinions.
Anchor it in eternal truth.

Father,

Thank You for calling me Your child.
For choosing me before I chose You.
For seeing me when I didn’t even see myself.

Teach me to live from the identity You’ve already given me.
Not to strive, but to rest.
Not to chase, but to follow.
Not to perform, but to walk with You in spirit and in truth.

Jesus,
You are the mirror I want to look into.
Show me who I am, in You.

Amen.