Rediscovering Your True Identity: Embracing Your Worth in Christ

I have been thinking about this post for a while now. And, I wrote a post on a completely different topic (Amazon Big Deal Days and how to stay focused on financial goals when it’s easy to justify spending), but decided that I needed this post to be written and put out there.

I recently left my position at a church after serving there for twenty-two years. I LOVED working there, I loved the ministry I was able to participate in, and I loved the people I did ministry with. But, my life was out of balance. There were many days (okay, sometimes weeks) where my priority was ministry. While ministry is a good thing, it being the top priority in my life was not. My relationship with the Lord, my husband, and my children should’ve been my top priorities. I am grateful that my family has been so gracious to me and forgiven me, and I am acutely aware that in some cases, families don’t recover from being out of balance in the way I was.

With those things not in the proper balance, it can really mess with your identity. I know that I am a daughter of the King of kings and Lord of lords, but really, my identity was as a “kids pastor,” “women’s ministry director,” or “groups director.” Now that I am no longer any of those things, it’s messed with my self-worth, identity, and self-confidence.

I’ve had to do some deep soul work in the past few months, to preach the gospel to myself, to remind myself of who I am, and to reclaim my sure foundation as a child of God. I think, as women, we can easily get caught up in this identity trap. Look at the different hats we wear: Wife, Mom, Employee, Homemaker, Caregiver, Nurse, CEO, CFO, COO and the list goes on. Those are all great and necessary endeavors, but none of them should trump our true identity as a child of God.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” 1 John 3:1a For those of us who have accepted Christ, our identity is found in Him alone. My worth comes from the fact that God has chosen me to be a recipient of His grace. Not because I’ve done anything to deserve it, just because He chose me. And He has chosen you.

Here are a few reminders for you.

You are created in the image of God. “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

You are made exactly how you were meant to be. “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.“ Ps 139:14

You are a child of God. “Yet 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

You are accepted. “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”Romans 15:7

You are no longer a slave to sin. “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin” Romans 6:6

You are a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Cor 5:17

You have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. “But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.”1 Cor 6:17

You have been raised with Christ. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Col 3:1-3

If you are struggling with your identity, pick one or two of the verses I shared, write them out and carry them with you. Whenever you feel those feelings of self-doubt, take out those verses and remind yourself of these truths from God’s Word. In some ways, I feel like I just scratched the surface of what could be a real issue for many of my readers. Let me know in the comments if you’d like me to explore this some more.

Jesus loves you!