In His Image

Scriptures: John 3:16, Genesis 1:27, Romans 5:8

As Christians, we hear that we should find our identity in Christ. We hear that we are made in His image, but what does that actually mean?

Finding our identity in Christ means to understand and embrace who God says you are. It’s recognizing that we are deeply loved and accepted by God, regardless of our past actions or mistakes. All of this is based on Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His grace for us, not because of anything that we have done.

Romans 5:8 says, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Even while we were turning our back on God and sinning, Christ died for us. The first step of finding our identity in Christ is accepting the love that He pours out to us. God loves you so much and He is pursuing you!

What’s amazing is that God’s Word is constantly saying how we should live as followers of Christ and how we should view ourselves as a Child of God. We are going to be diving deeper and seeing what it practically means in our day to day to live in that identity!

Scriptures: Proverbs 3:5-6, Romans 8:28

Before most of us even hit eighth grade, we’ve been asked, “What do you want to do after high school?” about a hundred times. There’s so much expectation surrounding what we do with our lives that it can feel like intense pressure. What if we told you that question has already been answered for you by God?

Regardless of whether or not you already have your 10 year plan or you don’t even know where to start, God has uniquely designed you with purpose. We’re created to bring glory to God. God takes the pressure off of us. We don’t have to achieve or perform to prove our value. Honoring Him is our ultimate purpose and He has a special way for each of us to do it. Choosing to use anything and everything in our lives for His glory is enough.

Our calling is simply using what’s in our hands to express what’s in our heart. We can use what we’re good at to share what we love, and what we love most is Jesus! Your worth is in who you are, not what you do. Your value isn’t in what you’re best at, it’s in Who you do it for. When it comes to the details of our future, God’s got the plan down. Our job is to worship Him every step of the way!

Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 3:18, Galatians 2:20, Romans 12:2

Anyone who has experienced salvation knows what it’s like to walk away and wonder how we get from who we are to who God wants us to be. In that powerful moment with Jesus, most of us leave with hearts on fire, desperately wanting to change and change for good. But if we’re honest, we also have no idea how to do it.

Thankfully, God doesn’t make us figure it out on our own. From the second Jesus saves us to our last breath, God takes us from sinner to saint through a transformation process. Our job is to allow God to renew us to look more like Him.

Practically, this means spending time with God. Through worship, prayer and being in the Word, God points out areas of our life that don’t look like Jesus. He shows us what needs to change. When God calls us out, we get to choose to respond or ignore. If we let Him teach us, we will obey by making new choices.

We’re all in process. If you let God change you, piece by piece, you’ll look up in a few years and not even recognize who you used to be. We are new creations in Christ, being transformed from one glory to the next!

Scriptures: Psalms 139, 1 Peter 2:9, 2 Corinthians 5:17

Have you ever been lying in your bed and the enemy tried to remind you of something in your past? Maybe He tried to remind you of who you used to be or any mistakes that you have made in the past. Too many people believe that when they put their faith in God, then the enemy is going to stop attacking them—that when they put their faith in Jesus, the rest of their life will be easy, but that idea is found nowhere within the Bible.

The enemy would love to remind you of who you used to be.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Whenever the enemy attacks you and tries to remind you of your past, you can tell him that who you used to be is gone. That’s not you anymore. You are a new creation in Christ! Your identity isn’t in who you used to be, but your identity is found in Christ!

Scriptures: Isaiah 43:18, Ephesians 4:22-23, Philippians 3:13-14

An essential part of embracing your true identity in Christ involves letting go of your past identities. Whether it’s your past sins, mistakes, or addictions, it means leaving the past in the past and running towards the future that God has for your life.

Philippians 3:13-14 says, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

You can choose to forget what is in your past and strain towards what God has for you in the future. Carrying your past with you is like trying to run a race with ankle weights. Strip them off and run the race God has called you to at full speed!

Why do you think a rearview mirror is smaller than a windshield? It’s because what is in front of you is more important than what is behind you. Embrace the new identity through Christ, forget the past, and strain towards God’s future and plan!

Scriptures: Galatians 6:2, James 5:16, Proverbs 27:17, Ecclesiastes 4:9

One of the most important ways to continue to build your identity in Christ is to surround yourself with people who believe the same things. Having a community surround you that is able to support you, encourage you, and hold you accountable is vital. This helps to reinforce and live out our new identity in practical ways!

Ecclesiastes 4:9 says, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.”

We can help each other succeed! We are better together! Our challenge for you is to plug yourself into a youth group, a church, and a community of like-minded people. Find people that are running after God and run alongside them. The enemy wants to isolate you and keep you from joining a community. He knows the benefit that we have when we surround ourselves with other believers. We are made to do life together!