Freedom in Identity

"You doubt your value.  Don't run from who you are."  Aslan


This weekend, we saw the latest Narnia movie with our kids.  Lucy was battling with her beauty.  She wanted to be something she was not created to be.  We had a long discussion with our children about being grateful about who God made them to be.  We talked mostly to our girls about their faces and bodies.  I was mortified when my 9 year old said she is already struggling with that.  I asked later what she meant, and she said she has a unibrow and a "girlstache."  She said she was happy with everything else.  I laughed and was actually pretty relieved.  For many years already,  we have taught our children about their identity in Christ.  


I experienced great freedom in my walk with Christ when I began to understand my identity and who I was created to be "in Christ."  I lived my younger Christian years in confusion, not understanding that I was flesh and spirit and not understanding that I was no longer a slave to sin but a slave to righteousness.  I had no idea there was freedom in Christ.  


Most of us trudge around bound by a false identity of sins we've committed or sins committed against us.  We place our identity in worldly successes or a lack thereof.  A name is our identity like mom, sister, mother, father, brother, friend, child, and we're confused when the expectations of these roles are not met.  The same goes for a title we hold such as CEO, President, Principal, Pastor, Elder, Director, and we're angry when we do not receive the respect we think we deserve.  Sometimes we place our identity in material possessions such as a car, home, decorating, clothing or recreational toys, and we're left empty when they are outdated.  We groom our kids for body image and sports, so much of our identity is learned.  (I'm giving myself the biggest guilt trip right now).


The problem with all of the above is that they were never meant to be our name tags.  In Christ, we were given a new name.  The old is gone;  The new has come.  And, these are not suggestions from our Savior -- They are stamps of identity.  


Below is a list taken from a website.   I love to meditate on these Scriptures and share them with my family when our mindset is unaligned.  It by no means exhausts all that we are in Christ, so please seek out who Christ has called you to be and live up to your new name.

“WHO I AM IN CHRIST” 

I am complete in Him Who is the Head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:10). 

I am alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5). 

I am free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). 

I am far from oppression, and fear does not come near me (Isaiah 54:14). 

I am born of God, and the evil one does not touch me (I John 5:18). 

I am holy and without blame before Him in love (I Peter 1:16; Ephesians 1:4). 

I have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5; I Corinthians 2:16). 

I have the peace of God that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). 

I have the Greater One living in me; greater is He Who is in me than he who is in the world (I John 4:4). 

I have received the gift of righteousness and reign as a king in life by Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17). 

I have received the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, the eyes of my understanding 

being enlightened (Ephesians 1:17,18). 

I have received the power of the Holy Spirit to lay hands on the sick and see them recover, to cast out 

demons, to speak with new tongues.  I have power over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any 

means harm me (Mark 16:17,18; Luke 10:17,19). 

I have put off the old man and have put on the new man, which is renewed in the knowledge after the image 

of Him Who created me (Colossians 3:9,10). 

I have given, and it is given to me; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, men 

give into my bosom (Luke 6:38). 

I have no lack for my God supplies all of my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus 

(Philippians 4:19). 

I can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one with my shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16). 

I can do all things through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:13). 

I shall do even greater works than Christ Jesus (John 14:12). 

I show forth the praises of God Who has called me out of darkness into His marvelous light (I Peter 2:9). 

I am God’s child⎯for I am born again of the incorruptible seed of the Word of God, which lives and abides 

forever (I Peter 1:23). 

I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ unto good works (Ephesians 2:10). 

I am a new creature in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17). 

I am a spirit being⎯alive to God (I Thessalonians 5:23; Romans 6:11). 

I am a believer, and the light of the Gospel shines in my mind (II Corinthians 4:4). 

I am a doer of the Word and blessed in my actions (James 1:22,25). 

I am a joint-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17). 

I am more than a conqueror through Him Who loves me (Romans 8:37). 

I am an overcomer by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony (Revelation 12:11). 

I am a partaker of His divine nature (II Peter 1:3,4). 

I am an ambassador for Christ (II Corinthians 5:20). 

I am part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people (I Peter 2:9). 

I am the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 5:21). 

I am the temple of the Holy Spirit; I am not my own (I Corinthians 6:19). 

I am the head and not the tail; I am above only and not beneath (Deuteronomy 28:13). 

I am the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). 

I am His elect, full of mercy, kindness, humility, and longsuffering (Romans 8:33; Colossians 3:12). 

I am forgiven of all my sins and washed in the Blood (Ephesians 1:7). 

I am delivered from the power of darkness and translated into God’s kingdom (Colossians 1:13). 

I am redeemed from the curse of sin, sickness, and poverty (Galatians 3:13; Deuteronomy 28:15-68). 

I am firmly rooted, built up, established in my faith and overflowing with gratitude (Colossians 2:7). 

I am called of God to be the voice of His praise (II Timothy 1:9; Psalm 66:8). 

I am healed by the stripes of Jesus (I Peter 2:24; Isaiah 53:5). 

I am raised up with Christ and seated in heavenly places (Colossians 2:12; Ephesians 2:6). 

I am greatly loved by God (Colossians 3:12; Romans 1:7; I Thessalonians 1:4; Ephesians 2:4). 

I am strengthened with all might according to His glorious power (Colossians 1:11).  

I press on toward the goal to win the prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward         

(Philippians 3:14). 

For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, love, and a sound mind (II Timothy 1:7). 

It is not I who live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20).