“Who does God say I am?”
It’s easy to let our past, our mistakes or other people’s opinions answer that question. God’s Word gives us something different: His answers to that same question.
Here are some Bible verses about who you are in Christ, and how to hold on to them when they don’t feel true yet.
You Are God’s Child
“But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”
John 1:12 NLT
This is true for everyone who has put their faith in Jesus.
“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!”
1 John 3:1 NLT
God doesn’t only call you His child. You truly are His child.
You Are a New Person
“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
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 NLT
In Christ, you are a new person. You live this new life by trusting Jesus, who loves you and gave Himself for you.
You Are Forgiven and Free
“He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.”
Ephesians 1:7 NLT
“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:1 NLT
Paul wrote Romans 8:1 right after describing his own struggle with sin in Romans 7. Your past is part of your story. It isn’t who you are. Jesus has forgiven you, and you belong to Him, even on the days you struggle. (See Why Do I Keep Sinning, Even After I Repent? (opens in a new tab).)
You Are Chosen and Loved
“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”
Colossians 3:12 NLT
God tells you who you are first: chosen, holy and loved. Then He shows you how to live.
“But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession.”
1 Peter 2:9 NLT
Peter wrote this to the church as a whole, using names God first gave to Israel. Every believer shares in them. You belong to God, and you belong with His people.
Your Life Is Safe With Christ
“For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Colossians 3:3 NLT
Your life is kept safe with Christ. That’s why, just before this, Paul tells us to set our minds on things above (Colossians 3:1–2). (See Set Your Mind on Things Above (opens in a new tab).)
You Are Made for Good Works
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Ephesians 2:10 NLT
God made you new first. The good things you do come after, and He planned them for you.
When It Doesn’t Feel True Yet
Maybe you’ve read verses like these and thought, “That’s true for other Christians. I’m not sure it’s true for me.”
I know that feeling.
For many years after I accepted Christ, the Scriptures said I was accepted by God.
Most days, I felt overlooked.
I still believed God’s promises. I just wasn’t sure they were true for me.
I came to realize I had been treating verses like these as a to-do list, rather than a being list: who God says I already am.
So I eventually decided to accept by faith what I had yet to feel.
I thanked God for what He said He had given me, until my feelings caught up.
As I wrote in my book, Renewing Your Mind: Living Life Intentionally:
“I realized that just because I didn’t ‘feel’ God’s Word to be true for me that didn’t make His word any less true.”
— Daniel Lafleur, Renewing Your Mind: Living Life Intentionally (opens in a new tab)
If that’s where you are, you can start in the same place. Take God at His word. Thank Him for what He says is true of you, and trust Him with the change. His Word is true today, whether you feel it yet or not.
Let God’s Word Shape How You See Yourself
Knowing these verses is a beginning. As God renews your mind, what He says about you becomes what you believe about yourself.
- Notice the old label. When a self-defeating thought comes, name it.
- Ask what God says. Find a verse that combats it.
- Choose His word. Say it, pray it or write it down, and thank Him that it’s true.
- Come back to it. Return to the same verse every time the self-defeating thought comes back, and let God use His Word to change the way you think.
(See How to Take Every Thought Captive (opens in a new tab).)
Keep a Verse Close
Choose one verse from this page and keep it with you this week. John 1:12, 1 John 3:1, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 8:1, 1 Peter 2:9, Colossians 3:3 and Ephesians 2:10 are all on our Scripture Cards (opens in a new tab), made to carry in your pocket.
Go Deeper
Identity has a whole chapter in my book, Renewing Your Mind: Living Life Intentionally. It shows what God has made you in Christ, and how to live from that new identity.
Growing Into Who God Says You Are
God has already said who you are in Christ. As you spend time in His Word, He can change how you think and therefore how you live. At Renewing Your Mind Discipleship Ministry, we teach a simple way to engage God’s Word so it changes how you live, in four parts. We call it The Process.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
