Devo #13

There are days in our lives where we don’t know who we are. We don’t know why we act a certain way. We don’t know why certain things happen to us. We don’t understand ourselves.

I went through a very long season of this and I still have days where I feel this way.

I remember crying to my mom, telling her I just didn’t feel myself. That I didn’t know why my life was this bad and I didn’t know how to fix it.

Her 8-word response was staggering, “You don’t know who you are in Christ.”

I shrugged her off and told her to stop preaching at me.

But she was right. And the longer I felt so disheveled, the more it rang true.

I didn’t know who I was in Christ.

When Jesus died for us and we accepted him into our lives, a shift takes place. We become all the things that the Bible tells us we are.

Righteous. Pure. Blameless. Holy. Blessed. Favored. Healed. Restored. New. Courageous. Brave.

And so many of us walk around going through an identity crisis because we forget. We forget that we are all those things.

And when we forget who we are, we tend to do things we shouldn’t do.

We have sex outside of marriage because we forget that we are pure and blameless.

We don’t stick up for ourselves because we forget we are courageous.

We struggle with finances because we forget that we are blessed.

We struggle through severe anxiety because we forget we are restored and made new.

We let sickness and disease rule our lives because we forget we are healed.

We keep smoking and drinking because we forget we are righteous.

When you start to remember who you really, truly are, your life will begin to change. That doesn’t mean you won’t struggle with things, but it does mean that you can overcome them.

I had a brief stint where I was smoking every single day. I hated that I was doing it. Every time I put that cigarette to my mouth, I said out loud, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.”

Eventually, the desire went away because I realized that who I really was didn’t want any of that. But it took a while for me to actually believe it.

2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus became all the sin, sickness, anxiety, depression, anger so that we didn’t have to bear the weight of it.

You are free of it all. But you have to believe it. You have to know your identity in Jesus. He makes us new.

It’s time for Christians to rise up and realize who they are because of what Jesus did on the cross.

So I ask you, are you having an identity crisis?

Response Journal Questions:
1. What are you struggling with or need to improve?
2. What do you need to starting believing that you are in Christ? (That you are strong? That you are brave? That you are healed? That you are whole? That you are pure?)
3. What verses can you say out loud to remind yourself of who you are in the moments that you forget?

Pray with me!
Father God, thank you for what you did on the cross. Thank you for making me new, even if I forget it sometimes. Help me to identify the areas where I forget who I am in Christ. I want to know who I am. I want to walk in faith and authority in my life. Speak to me and remind me who I am.
In Jesus’ name, amen.

Need prayer?