On what should I base my identity?

Genesis 1:27God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Psalm 8:3-8When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority—the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.

Psalm 139:13-15You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

Ephesians 2:10We 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.

We must base our identity on the truth that we are made in God’s image. We were created on purpose by God for a special purpose in his world. It is impossible to understand our identity without understanding the identity of the good God who made us. And God created us all, specifically, and for a purpose. We are all precious and valuable in his sight.

John 3:16“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Romans 5:6-8When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

1 John 4:9-10God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

We should base our identity on the truth that God loves us and sent his Son to die for us in order to establish an eternal relationship with us.

Colossians 3:12Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

1 Peter 2:9You are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

1 John 3:1See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!

Though our identity involves our origins and associations, it also involves things that we learn. Children often reflect their parents’ appearance, personality, or mannerisms. But they also learn by imitating what they see, for better or worse, and make it their own. When we embrace our identity as children of our heavenly Father, we learn to reflect his character: his mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and so much more!

Romans 8:15-17You have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

1 John 3:2Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.

We are tempted to measure our value on the basis of performance or other external measurements. But our identity is rooted in the fact that we are created in God’s image and loved as God’s children. These truths should affect not only how we view ourselves, but also how we view the people close to us.

1 Corinthians 12:12-18The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.

1 Corinthians 12:27All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

Galatians 3:28There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Having an identity as God’s child naturally means having an identity as part of his family, the church. The early church experienced many challenges. People who previously had nothing in common were suddenly joined together, and conflicts did arise. Despite that, members of the early church loved one another deeply, even making significant sacrifices of time and resources to care for one another. Their identity together in Christ was far more important than race, gender, social status, or anything else. Your identity in Christ is most fulfilled and complete when you are engaging with your eternal family, the Body of Christ.

John 13:12-15After washing their feet, he [Jesus] put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”

Jesus calls us to follow him—to build our identities around his identity. Central to Jesus’ calling on our lives is his call for us to love and serve each other. Many in this world set out to build their identities on roles that promise power, comfort, and material success. Jesus, on the contrary, calls us to be servants, no matter what our profession or calling may be. If we claim to follow Jesus, serving others must become an important part of everything we do.

2 Timothy 1:7God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

1 John 4:15-18All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.

Peace, clarity, confidence—everyone going through an identity crisis longs for these qualities or character traits. When we realize how much God loves us and trust him completely, we will experience these things in full. But a full identity—even an identity in Christ—does not become complete in a day. John says that “as we live in God, our love grows more perfect.” Search the Scriptures and you will find people who doubted, fell into temptation, and suffered. But that wasn’t the end of their stories, and it need not be the end of yours, either. Keep living in obedience to God, even when you are afraid or in doubt, and he will give you more and more reasons to trust in his love.

Romans 6:1-4Should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

Galatians 2:20My 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.

Baptism is a choice to identify ourselves with Jesus—in his death and in his resurrection. When we identify with Jesus in his death, we are acknowledging the weight of our sins against God and others; we are accepting Jesus’s sacrifice for our sins; and we are choosing to die to our old life of sin. When we identify with Jesus in his resurrection, we are making a public statement that we are not just leaving an old life—we are living a brand new life! Now, we are living a life defined by our love for God and our desire to follow him.