Do you have a biblical view of yourself?

Who Gets to Tell You Who You Are?

A few years ago, I met with a counselor who works almost exclusively with pastors. I saw him eight times, and honestly, it was one of the healthiest things I’ve ever done.  No matter who we are or how long we’ve been faithful, it’s good to have someone objective listen to us and take a peek at how we think about life and doctrine.

One day, after listening to me describe myself, my struggles, my insecurities, and the way I tended to measure my worth, he stopped me and asked a simple but penetrating question:

"Why do you see yourself this way? Where are you getting the truth about yourself? Where is the story of you being written from?  Do you believe the things you're saying about yourself?"

These questions interrupted my perspective and have stayed with me since.

At the end of one session, he handed me a small card. On it were these words:

"Because of Christ's redemption, I am a new creation of great worth. I am deeply loved, completely forgiven, fully pleasing, totally accepted by God, and absolutely complete in Christ."

It is simple but profound. These 31 words provide me with a gospel-centered view of myself.  I still read that card during my devotional times. Why? Because the voices we listen to matter.

The reality is that all of us are getting our identity from somewhere. Some people find it in their accomplishments. Others find it in their careers, relationships, appearance, possessions, intelligence, popularity, or political tribe. We all look somewhere for validation, significance, and worth.  Something, at all times, is forming and shaping our view of who we are.

The problem is that these sources are unstable. Careers change. Relationships disappoint. Bodies age (it’s so humbling to grow older).  Success comes and goes. Public opinion shifts. Politics makes us angry and bitter. What happens when the thing you've built your identity upon is suddenly taken away?

Even Christians can slowly drift into this trap. We know the truth about who we are in Christ, yet over time, we allow louder voices to shape our self-understanding. We listen to criticism. We listen to shame. We fall into the comparison game on social media. We listen to our failures. We listen to our emotions. Before long, our identity is being written by subjective voices rather than by God's objective truth.

And we can believe them.

The gospel says something better.  Actually, not just better, but completely transformative.

My identity does not rise and fall with my performance, productivity, circumstances, or feelings. It originates with God, is anchored in Christ, and remains true whether I feel it or not.  That alone is a completely counter-cultural thought in today’s world.

Here are the truths from that little card that continue to anchor my soul.

 

Because of Christ's Redemption

Everything begins here.  My identity is based firmly on something I did not do, could never have accomplished on my own.  That’s a game-changer.

My identity is not built on my effort, morality, ministry success, size of my church, or ability to "have it together." It is rooted entirely in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

The gospel tells me that Jesus did for me what I could never do for myself. He paid for my sin at the cross and reconciled me to God.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”

Titus 3:4-7

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace…”

Ephesians 1:7

This changes everything. My standing with God is not fragile because it was never built on me in the first place. I am not destined for eternal life because I have earned it by my good works.  My identity begins not with what I have done for God, but with what Christ has done for me.

 

I Am a New Creation of Great Worth

The gospel does not merely improve us; it makes us new.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

2 Corinthians 5:17

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

1 Peter 2:9

The world constantly interrupts this truth. It tells us our value comes from appearance, success, influence, wealth, popularity, or achievement. If those things increase, we feel valuable. If they disappear, we feel worthless.

Let me add, very clearly, a warning to Christians: Whether intentional or not, our worth is often measured by what we do for Christ's mission, how talented we are, or how many souls we save.  Resist this at all costs.  To my preacher friends out there – dismantle this idea from the pulpit with every single sermon!  It’s not only untrue, but it is a trap of Satan.

Before anything we do as disciples of Christ, we are made new and whole by the finished work of Jesus on the cross.  Nothing we do within the church community or for the Lord on the mission field, after our salvation, earns us more or less favor from God.

God assigns worth differently. Our value comes from the fact that we were created in His image and redeemed by His Son. You are not disposable. You are not forgotten. You are not a commodity.  Your value doesn’t rise or fall based on performance.

In Christ, you are a new creation of immense worth to God.

I Am Deeply Loved

One of the greatest lies many Christians quietly believe is that God merely tolerates them.

Scripture paints a very different picture.  God delights in us.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

1 John 3:1

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8

“The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying:

‘I have loved you with an everlasting love;

I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.’”

Jeremiah 31:3

God's love is not shallow, reluctant, or temporary. It is covenant love. Pursuing love. Fatherly love.  Relentless love.

And perhaps most importantly, it is not dependent on our emotional state. Some days we feel lovable. Some days we do not. But God's love is grounded in His character, not our feelings.

Completely Forgiven

This truth is life-changing when it finally sinks in.

Many Christians intellectually believe they are forgiven, yet emotionally continue carrying shame and guilt like a heavy backpack.

God’s word declares something astonishing: my sin no longer defines my standing before God.

“as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

Psalm 103:12

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

Romans 8:1

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

1 John 1:9

This does not mean sin is unimportant. It means Jesus fully paid for it.  

God is not reluctantly putting up with me because of my failures. In Christ, I am forgiven completely. My past no longer has authority to define me, and it doesn’t skew God’s view of me.

How freeing is it to know that we can start new every day, despite our failures and shortcomings!

Fully Pleasing to God

This may be the hardest truth on this list for some Christians to believe.

Many of us live with the lingering suspicion that God is perpetually disappointed in us. We know He loves us, but we imagine He is frustrated by our shortcomings, weary of our failures, and waiting for us to finally get our act together.

The gospel destroys this idea.

Because of Christ, God does not relate to us based on our performance. He relates to us through the perfect righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ.

"For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."

Hebrews 10:14

"Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Hebrews 4:16

This does not mean God ignores our sin or stops sanctifying us. He absolutely continues His work of shaping and transforming us. But His fatherly correction is not the same thing as rejection.

When the Father looks at those who are in Christ, He sees people clothed in the righteousness of His Son. We do not spend our lives trying to become pleasing enough for God to accept us. In Christ, we are already pleasing to Him, and from that secure position we learn to walk in obedience.

Fully Accepted by God

Acceptance may be one of the deepest longings of the human soul.  It is the one thing that can define a child’s path in life or change an adult’s trajectory.

We spend enormous amounts of energy trying to earn it. We want to be approved, included, admired, affirmed, validated, and welcomed. Yet acceptance in this world often feels fragile and conditional.  Let’s face it, acceptance can come and go.

Scripture offers something far greater.

“But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation…”

Colossians 1:22

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.”

Ephesians 1:4-6

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household…”

Ephesians 2:19

Think about that: in Christ, we are welcomed by God Himself.

Not someday. Not after we improve enough. Not until we finally conquer every struggle. Because of Jesus, we belong. The acceptance every human heart longs for has already been granted through Christ.

Absolutely Complete in Christ

This is where the rubber hits the road.  So much of life is spent chasing the feeling that something is missing.  Even after our baptism, we can feel incomplete.

We think, if I just had this relationship, this success, this accomplishment, this experience, then I would finally feel complete.

But the gospel says completeness is not found in achievement or accumulation. It is found in Christ.

“…and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.”

Colossians 2:10

“The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.”

Psalm 23:1

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness”

2 Peter 1:3

This does not mean life is easy or that we never struggle. It means that spiritually speaking, we lack nothing essential. In Jesus, we already possess the greatest treasure imaginable: reconciliation with God Himself.

The little card still speaks to me today because it reminds me where truth comes from.

Not from my fears.

Not from my failures.

Not from culture.

Not from comparison.

Not from my accomplishments.

Not even from my own emotions.

The truest thing about me is what God says about me in Christ.

I pray these words impact and transform how you see yourself:

Because of Christ's redemption, I am a new creation of great worth. I am deeply loved, completely forgiven, fully pleasing, fully accepted by God, and absolutely complete in Christ.

Daren Overstreet

Daren is a Senior Leader at Anchor Point Church in Tampa, Florida.  He has been in ministry for nearly 30 years, and holds a Master’s Degree in Missional Theology.

You can contact him at: daren@anchorpointtampa.org