Whether you’ve been a Christian for most of your life or since yesterday, it can be a challenge to really understand and accept your identity. Read on for three steps to better understand who we are in Christ.

Who am I? We pursue the answer to that question all our lives—struggling with feelings of failure and inadequacy.

I’m a daughter, sister, wife, step-mother, writer, blogger. 

I am afraid, forgetful, selfish, encouraging, loving, insecure, shy. 

These are just some of the roles and attributes that describe me. But who am I? Do all the things—good and bad—define who I am?When I feel dumb and inadequate, are those things really true? 

My Story

I’m not sure when—or why—my personal script first included the certainty that I just didn’t measure up somehow. 

My childhood consisted of highs when I thought maybe—just maybe—I could do this thing called life to lows where I was sure I was lacking some vital innate characteristic. Life was overwhelming at times.

As I have mentioned before, those feelings culminated into a kind of release when I was around five years old. Tears eased some of what I couldn’t even articulate to my sweet mama who wanted to know what was so terribly wrong that her girl who didn’t show a lot of outward emotion would cry inconsolably. 

I couldn’t say what was wrong with me that day, because at the time I didn’t understand it myself. That day did help to ease the pressure inside me, but those feelings have never left me. 

When I was eight, the pastor’s sermons started hitting me. I had no trouble believing I was a sinner and needed the sweet saving grace of Christ. Sometimes I like to think back to that time when I felt so free and new and clean. 

But unfortunately those feelings of missing something have never truly dissipated although they’ve never reached the level they did when I was five. My life still consists of highs and lows. 

But then I guess that’s life on this side of heaven, isn’t it? We go ‘round learning and relearning. And God has been so faithful to remind me over and over who I am to Him. 

Steps to Understand True Identity

Thanks to my own road to understanding my identity in Christ and learning what’s true and what’s not, it really bothers me that anyone else would feel like I have. 

But I pretty much say this in every post I write now: Everyone deals with pretty much every emotion. We feel like we are alone in our insecurities, but that is just an all-too-often-fallen-for lie the enemy of our souls wants us to believe. 

Through writing this blog, I’ve learned three steps in truly understanding identity:

#1 – Get to know the Name Giver. 

Have you ever heard the saying that many times the teacher learns the most? Well, I wouldn’t really call myself a teacher here—I’m more a sharer if that’s a word—but in my sharing with you, I have learned so much. 

Early in my blogging journey I researched the names and attributes of God. I stumbled on it I should say, but I’ve learned since that it’s really the first step in understanding our own identity. 

The names of God are fascinating. He has so many—more than I’ve even found. Maybe there’s something in that. But each of His names reveals part of His character. 

By understanding what our Maker says about Himself, we can trust that the Promise Maker is faithful to keep His promises to us. 

And on that note, if you’ve never accepted Jesus as your Savior, then part of your getting to know the Name Giver is accepting Him first. Be sure to check out this post for more on that.

Below I’ve included a free resource for you. Just click the image. It’s a set of two bookmarks (front and back or four separate bookmarks) with the names and attributes of God. These are some of my favorite resources that I’ve created so far.

Print them on cardstock if you have it and then laminate for a lasting reminder of who our great God says He is.

FYI: you can get a pack of DYI laminating sheets for not-a-whole-lot of money at places like Target and Walmart. Click the image below to download the PDF.

#2 – Trust what the Name Giver calls you. 

I love that God has so many names. Unlike our names today, back in Scripture days names meant a whole lot. Like Sarah. Her name was Sarai, but God changed it to Sarah because she would be the mother of a nation. 

Or Paul. He started out as Saul back when he was murdering every Christian he could find. 

Simon became Peter. 

And Joseph was dubbed Barnabas by the other apostles thanks to his magnificent gift of encouragement. 

Names meant something.

And just like God’s names can help us understand better who He is, the names He calls us can both teach us who we are to Him—and trust Him even more.  

And here’s another resource for you. I love to color; we’re never too old for that, are we? So here’s a set of five Scripture Coloring Pages with each one featuring a wonderful reminder of who we are in Christ. Print, color, and reflect. Click the image below to download the PDF.

#3 – Seek to remind others of their identity in christ.  

I love how faith in Christ requires us to look beyond ourselves. True Christianitiy may be the only religion on Earth that doesn’t focus on the self as my sweet husband says often. It doesn’t focus on the self as anything apart from Christ. 

And just as Christ exhorted the disciples to light their candles and let them burn for the whole world to see, our identities in Christ don’t stop with us. They extend to our neighbors still hurting in the dark. 

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As Christians we may always struggle with remembering our true identity, but God is always waiting to remind us of who we are in Him. Every time He whispers our name. 

Who am I?

I am a child of God. And so are you if you’ve accepted Jesus as your Lord. If you haven’t or you don’t know what I’m talking about, please check out this page.

Do you struggle to understand your identity in Christ? What’s helped you? Let me know in the comments below.

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Here are some more resources for you…

• Your Identity in Christ – 15 Things God Says of You from Crosswalk
• On Hearing God’s Voice: One Thing God Will Never Say to You from Stacey Pardoe
• Identity: The One Whom Jesus Loves from HISsparrowBlog
• Identity in Christ: My Name Is… from HISsparrowBlog
• 60+ Names and Attributes of GOD & JESUS from HISsparrowBlog
• 20ish MORE Names & Attributes of God from HISsparrowBlog

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And hey!

If you liked the resources I included in this post, then be sure to subscribe to my bi-weekly newsletter and receive access to my free resource library for even more resources created by yours truly.

Click below if you’re interested.

I frequently link up with the following: Grace & Truth with Embracing the Unexpected, Tell His Story with Jeanne Takenaka, and Let’s Have Coffee with Joanne Viola.