Who I Am

I've struggled with knowing who I am. It seems like it should be an easy thing to know, but over the years, I've realized that at least for me, it's not.

The problem is I believe a lot of lies. There are things which I am not that I believe I am. Some of those lies are:

• I am alone.
• I am inadequate.
• I am worthless.
• I am unlovable.
• I am dispensable.

And here's the biggest lie: I will never be more than those things.

To combat that, we can do some positive self-talk. Here's a prime example:

Now, that's not bad. I actually think it's beautiful. But that's not truly who I am either. I am something else, something better.

A couple of my teammates have recently become obsessed with Neil T. Anderson's book Victory over the Darkness. Their obsession made me curious, so I began reading it. Mr. Anderson is very wise and speaks a lot of truth. He dedicates a lot of his book to helping us understand who we are. That's great and something I desperately need. Thanks Neil, Shane, and Aaron!

Before we dive into who we are, it's important to explain why we need to know our identity. Neil says, "God wants us to know who we are so we can start living accordingly." (Unfortunately, this e-book doesn't provide pages, but this sentence is somewhere in chapter one.) Now, that reasoning is good enough for me to seek out the truth about my identity!

In chapter two, Neil writes:

A Christian is not simply a person who is forgiven and goes to heaven. A Christian, in terms of his or her deepest identity, is a saint, a spiritually born child of God, a divine masterpiece, a child of light, a citizen of heaven. Being born again transformed you into someone who didn't exist before. What you receive as a Christian isn't the point; it is who you are. It is not what you do as a Christian that determines who you are; it is who you are that determines what you do (see 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:10; 1 Pet. 2:9, 10; 1 John 3:1, 2).

 Here are those biblical references:

1. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
2. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10)
3. But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.     “Once you had no identity as a people;
          now you are God’s people.
          Once you received no mercy;
          now you have received God’s mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9, 10)
4. See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. (1 John 3:1, 2)

Good truth. But that's not all of it. Neil gives us some other good reminders.

One is that I'm not a sinner. I, Kayla, am not a sinner. That is no longer my identity. I, Kayla, am now a saint! Sure, I'm a saint who sins, but my sin does not define me. It is not my identity.

What would our lives look like if we gave up our hold on the title of "sinner" and rather grasped the identity of "saint"? Neil and I think we would live like saints. When we know that we're saints, "we can start living accordingly" as God desires us to do.

"As believers, we are not trying to become saints; we are saints who are becoming like Christ. In no way does this deny the continuous struggle with sin, but it does give the believer some hope for the future" (chapter two).

I'm going to cling to that hope! I am claiming my identity as a saint through Jesus! When I grow in my understanding as a saint because of Christ, I can let go of all of those lies from before. I don't have to feel alone, inadequate, worthless, unlovable, or dispensable. I can look to God to define me in my status as a saint.

Here's part of who I am in Christ (as stated by Neil at the end of chapter two):

1. I am the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13)
2. I am the light of the world (Matt. 5:14)
3. I am a child of God (John 1:12)
4. I am part of the true vine, a channel of Christ's life (John 15:1, 5)
5. I am Christ's friend (John 15:15)
6. I am chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit (John 15:16)
7. I am a slave of righteousness (Rom. 6:18)
8. I am enslaved to God (Rom. 6:22)
9. I am a daughter of God; God is spiritually my Father (Rom. 8:14, 15; Gal. 3:26; 4:6)
10. I am a joint heir with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him (Rom. 8:17)
11. I am a temple -- a dwelling place -- of God. His Spirit and His life dwell in me (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19)
12. I am united to the Lord and am one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17)
13. I am a member of Christ's Body (1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 5:30)
14. I am a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17)
15. I am reconciled to God and am a minister of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18, 19)
16. I am a daughter of God and one in Christ (Gal. 4:6, 7)
17. I am God's workmanship -- the handiwork -- born anew in Christ to do His work (Eph. 2:10)
18. I am a fellow citizen with the rest of God's family (Eph. 2:19)
19. I am a prisoner of Christ (Eph. 3:1; 4:1)
20. I am righteous and holy (Eph. 4:24)
21. I am a citizen of heaven, seated in heaven right now (Eph. 2:6; Phil. 3:20)
22. I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3)
23. I am an expression of the life of Christ because He is my life (Col. 3:4)
24. I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved (Col. 3:12; 1 Thess. 1:4)
25. I am a daughter of light and not of darkness (1 Thess. 5:5)
26. I am a holy partaker of a heavenly calling (Heb. 3:1)
27. I am a partaker of Christ; I share in His life (Heb. 3:14)
28. I am one of God's living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5)
29. I am a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession (1 Pet. 2:9, 10)
30. I am an alien and a stranger to this world in which I temporarily live (1 Pet. 2:11)
31. I am an enemy of the devil (1 Pet. 5:8)
32. I am a child of God and I will resemble Christ when He returns (1 John 3:1, 2)
33. I am born of God, and the evil one -- the devil -- cannot touch me (1 John 5:18)
34. I am not the great "I am" (Exod. 3:14; John 8:24, 28, 58), but by the grace of God, I am what I am (1 Cor. 15:10)

That list isn't meant to be an overwhelming burden. It's truth from the LORD that's meant to be a source of hope. God doesn't look at me and see an inadequate and worthless sinner. He looks at me and sees Christ. He sees a beloved daughter. And that is what I am -- nothing more, nothing less. It's a beautiful thing to be. My new identity is wonderfully freeing.

My new identity is much better than my old identity. And it's much better than being kind, smart, and important. I, Kayla, am a daughter of the Most High God. I am righteous. I am holy. I am a saint. I don't have to do anything to become that; Jesus did it all for me. All I need to do is embrace that identity.

Who are you?