For a long time, I thought growing in my identity in Christ meant learning more Bible verses.
So I memorized them.
I highlighted them in my Bible.
I taught them in Bible studies.
If someone had asked me, “Who are you in Christ?” I could have answered with confidence.
But then life happened.
Someone’s words would wound me.
I’d struggle with insecurity.
I’d compare myself to someone else or feel like I had failed.
And suddenly, all those verses I knew in my head didn’t seem to make much difference in the way I responded.
I realized there was a gap between knowing my identity and living from it.
Over the past few weeks, as we’ve journeyed through My Identity in Christ, I’ve been reminded that our identity isn’t something we’re trying to create. It’s not a better version of ourselves that we slowly achieve through spiritual effort.
Our identity was established the moment Christ redeemed us.
That’s why understanding redemption is so important.
Before we can appreciate who we are in Christ, we have to understand who we were without Him.
The Bible doesn’t describe us as people who simply needed a little encouragement or a second chance. It describes us as people who were completely unable to save ourselves. No amount of good works, determination, or religious effort could erase our sin or restore our relationship with God.
We needed a Redeemer.
One of the most beautiful pictures of redemption in the Bible is found in the story of Ruth and Boaz. Boaz willingly stepped in as Ruth’s kinsman redeemer, paying the price to give her a future she could never have secured on her own.
That story points us to Jesus.
He became our Kinsman Redeemer.
He came into our world, took on our humanity, and willingly paid the full price for our redemption through His own blood.
One of the truths that has impacted me most is something I learned years ago while studying the New Testament. There are several Greek words translated “redeem,” and together they paint an incredible picture.
Jesus paid the ransom for our freedom.
He purchased us out of slavery.
And He didn’t buy us so we could return to the slave market again.
He redeemed us permanently.
Then He did something even more astonishing.
He adopted us into His family.
Think about that.
God didn’t simply rescue you from your sin.
He welcomed you into His household as His beloved child, with all the privileges of belonging to Him.
That’s your identity.
Not because you’ve earned it.
Not because you’ve finally overcome every weakness.
Not because you’ve become the perfect Christian.
Because of Jesus.
I think this is where so many believers struggle.
We continue trying to build an identity that Christ has already given us.
We spend years trying to prove we’re worthy of God’s love when the cross has already settled that question forever.
The Christian life isn’t about striving to become someone valuable.
It’s about learning to live as the person God says you already are.
That truth has changed the way I pray.
It has changed the way I read Scripture.
And perhaps most importantly, it has changed the way I respond when the enemy tries to remind me of my past.
Because my past is no longer my identity.
My redemption is.
If you’d like to explore this more deeply, I recently revisited this topic on my blog and unpacked what it truly means to understand your identity through the lens of redemption.
Read the full article here:
👉 Understanding Our True Identity in Jesus Christ
Want to go deeper into your identity in Christ?
I’ve gathered my Bible studies, journals, Scripture cards, prayer resources, and other tools into one place so you don’t have to hunt for them.
As we’ve discovered throughout this journey, freedom doesn’t begin when we finally feel worthy.
It begins when we believe what God has already declared to be true:
You have been redeemed, adopted, and made new. Live from that identity today.
I love this. I've been realizing that identity in Christ isn't just about discovering who I am. It's also about surrendering who I thought I had to be (and I see this a ton with my patients who wrestle with their hormones). As someone who left witchcraft in October for Christ, surrending to Him has been one of the most freeing and also the most difficult things I’ve done.