10 Powerful Truths About a Woman’s Identity in Christ
From our earliest ages, we ask ourselves this question, “Who am I?”
Our understanding of our identity is essential to our sense of emotional well-being and security.
Sadly, we are bombarded with messages daily, trying to redefine identity and who we should be. It’s so easy to believe the messages we hear.
Our world is pushing a “create your own identity” mentality. This thinking is rooted in hundreds of years of philosophical thought and rejection of God.
Understanding our identity is a deep question that many struggle with. Our beliefs about God and self will mold our response.
In this article, we will explore your identity in Christ for women.
Philosophers and Identity
Why is answering the question, Who am I and understanding our identity so difficult? Identity is a key construct in philosophical thinking, but most philosophers place the focus on the self and not God, which leads society to misunderstand identity.
Let’s begin with the Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, all of whom believed that knowing yourself was the basis of knowledge. Aristotle said, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of wisdom.”
Later in the Enlightenment period, philosophers, including René Descartes and Immanuel Kant, also emphasized thought as the path to identity. You probably recognize Descartes’ famous saying, “I think, therefore I am.”
Finally, closer to the present, the Existentialism of the 20th century brought us more focus on the creation of the self in the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre, Soren Kierkegaard, and Carl Jung, bringing us the current beliefs that we define our identity. Sartre believed, “Man is nothing but what he makes of himself,” or in modern words, create your truth.
From this sampling, we see that philosophers have struggled with the question of identity, but have failed to provide any truly meaningful answers, instead focusing on the self and the notion that one creates one’s own reality. This self-focused thinking has only added to the confusion surrounding the understanding of identity.
Daughter of the King: Discover Your Identity in Christ
As believers, your true identity is who you are in Christ. Understanding your identity in Christ will change how you view yourself and give you significance and purpose.
1. You are made in the image of God
Of all creation, only humans were made in the image of God (in Latin, imago dei). By design, God placed special value and worth on humans. We have an eternal soul, the ability to think and reason, the capacity for communication, and free will.
- Key Verses:
- Genesis 1:27: God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.
- 1 Corinthians 15:47-49: The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly.
2. You Are a Child of God
As a believer, you have been adopted into God’s family, secure and deeply loved. You can celebrate that you are called children of God. Plus, being a child of God also makes you an heir to the promise in Christ.
- Key Verses:
- 1 John 3:1: See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause, the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him.
- John 1:12-13: But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
- Romans 8:17: And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.
- Ephesians 1:11: We were also assigned an inheritance in him, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who does all things after the counsel of his will.
3. You Are a New Creation
As a woman, when you get married, you can take your husband’s name. You have a new name and a new identity. In Christ, you also receive a new identity. With your new identity in Christ, old things (your past, sins, mistakes) are gone, and a new life begins.
- Key Verses:
- 2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
- Galatians 2:20: I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.
- Philippians 2:13: For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
4. You Are Loved
God’s great love for us is greater than we can imagine or understand. As a mother, I cannot process giving my son’s life to save others. But that is what God did: He sent His son, Jesus, because He loved us. Jesus willingly gave His life for us.
- Key Verses:
- John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
- Romans 5:8: But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
- John 15:13: Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
5. You Are God’s Masterpiece, Created for Purpose
You were not an accident. God specially created you for good works and His purpose.
- Key Verses:
- Ephesians 2:10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
- Ephesians 1:4‑5: Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love, having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire.
- Esther 4:14: For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
6. You Are Chosen, Royal, Holy, and Priestly
God chose you. Being chosen is special. Identity is not based on performance but on God’s choosing and calling. Through Christ, we are high priests and have direct access to the Father.
- Key Verses:
- Jeremiah 1:5: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.
- 1 Peter 2:9: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
- Ephesians 2:18: For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
7. You Are Forgiven and Free from Condemnation
You have been forgiven completely. Because of the blood of Christ, you have no guilt before the Father; you have the righteousness of Christ. No condemnation awaits a woman in Christ. You have complete forgiveness, and you may rest in grace.
- Key Verses:
- Romans 5:1: Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Romans 8:1: There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
- Colossians 2:13‑14: You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us. He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.
8. You Are Empowered by the Spirit, Fearless and Indwelt by the Spirit
Fear is not in your vocabulary. God grants a spirit of power and love to do His works. Paul wrote that we are empowered and we can do all things in Christ.
Redeemed by Christ’s blood and the Holy Spirit, a permanent identity change has indwelled us. In the Old Testament, God dwelt in a place (the tabernacle and temple – holy of holies), but in the New Testament, God dwells in us through the Spirit.
- Key Verses:
- 2 Timothy 1:7: For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
- Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
- Ephesians 1:7: In him we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.
- John 14:26: But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.
- 1 Corinthians 6:19: Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
9. You Are Alive “In Christ”, United and Blessed
In unity with Christ, you receive every spiritual blessing, including righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
- Key Verses:
- Ephesians 1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
- I Corinthians 1:30: Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.
10. You Are Called to Live Boldly from Your Identity in Christ
Jesus is our hope. Knowing who you are in Christ empowers you to live unashamed, confident, and purposeful. We no longer have a spirit of fear, but of power and confidence, and we can share the excellence of Christ with others.
- Key Verses:
- Romans 8:37: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
- 1 Peter 2:9: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
- II Timothy 1:7: For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
Apply the Word
Realizing how God sees you and the high value He places on who you are is life-changing.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible, John 15:16 says, “You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.“
Consider each of these 10 statements about your identity in Christ and make them real for you.
