This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! – 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
“I didn’t study for this!” I panicked and stared down at a blank exam. The test will soon be over, and I have not answered a single question. I’m racking my brain to remember something—anything—to put down on the page, but I can’t. I’m going to fail.
An alarm goes off. I wake up, startled, sweating. It takes me a few minutes to remind myself that I’m no longer in school. I’m an adult, and I have a degree that tells me I’ve graduated. I never have to take a test again! When I wake up, it takes me a minute to remember who I am.
A nightmare about a daunting test you’re unprepared for is a bit funny, but unfortunately, many of us do the same thing to ourselves daily in a much more serious fashion. When I have the recurring nightmare about taking an exam I haven’t studied for, I momentarily forget who I am in terms of my education; but as believers, we sometimes forget who we are in terms of what God has done for us. We often forget our identity in Christ.
We feel like the same old person we used to be, and we let how we feel about ourselves tell us who we are. We let our emotions tell us the same old messages: “You’re a failure”, “You’re never going to get over this sin”, and “You’re not good enough for God to love you.”
Recording artist Rhett Walker says that his song, “Believer,” is a personal tool to remind himself of his true identity in Christ when he feels that he is not good enough. He believes God’s truth says, “Yes, you can’t be good enough, but I sent my Son to die on the cross and pay the ultimate sacrifice so that your foundation can be freedom.” Walker adds, “So, to end anxiety, we can be truth speakers.”
Unfortunately, we trap ourselves in a nightmare listening to these lies. This is the beauty of Rhett Walker’s song, “Believer,” in which he proclaims the reality of every person who puts their faith in Jesus: “I am a child of the Father, an orphan no longer, no doubt about who I am.”
When we listen to this truth, we live differently. We can live as believers—people who believe and trust that every word out of the mouth of God is true. In the Bible, the book of Acts is a great picture of what it looks like to find a fresh identity in Christ.
In the book of Acts, we see a ragtag group of men and women who used to be nobodies in the world’s eyes, and yet, they change the world. Just a few pages before, many of them had abandoned Christ; but Christ gives them a new identity, and because of that new identity, they are able to walk confidently in their calling and leave a legacy for all believers who follow.
Trust me, there will be moments in life when our feelings tell us something about our identity that simply isn’t true. We will hear the message that we are not good enough, that we can never change, and we’ll be tempted to believe it. But the reality of a follower of Christ is quite different, as Paul points out in today’s verse. As we walk with Jesus, it’s out with the old, and in with the new!
Let’s stop living in a nightmare. We can change the narrative we tell ourselves. God has declared that you are a new creation in Him, and that is your true identity!
Dig Deeper
1. What can you do to remind yourself daily of your new identity as a believer?
2. How can you use your new identity to help others?
