Day 2: Who You Really Are

"IT IS NOT ABOUT ME"~

who I think I am,

who others say I am,

or even how I feel about myself.

It is all aboutJESUS~

who HE IS,

what HE has done,

and who I have become

because I am

IN CHRIST.

Just two little words with the power

to change our identity—

who we are and who we sometimes think we are.

Just two powerful little words—

IN CHRIST.

Try it~

I am ACCEPTED... IN CHRIST.

But when I do not accept myself,

and when others do not accept me, am I still accepted?

Have you ever asked yourself that question?

Add those two powerful little words—

IN CHRIST.

Because our ACCEPTANCE does not depend on me.

It does not depend on how well I perform,

how others perceive me, or how I feel about myself.

My ACCPETANCE rests entirely on

JESUS.

Because~

“If anyone is IN CHRIST the new creation has come:

The old has gone, the new is here " (II Corinthians 5:17).

Whatever I think I am,

whatever you think you are,

and whatever others think about us

does not carry the final authority.

JESUS does.

If I am and if you are

IN CHRIST,

we have been made new,

fully FORGIVEN,

and completely ACCEPTED~

not because of anything we have done,

but because of everything

JESUS has done.

Our NEW IDENTITY

is not about making more of ourselves.

It is about surrendering ourselves

so that the life of

JESUS

can be seen in us.

“It is no longer I who live, but CHRIST lives in me"

(Galatians 2:20).

Receiving our NEW IDENTITY

and believing our NEW IDENTITY

may sound simple,

but living from our NEW IDENTITY can be hard,

especially when we do not feel NEW,

when we do not feel ACCEPTABLE,

and when others still see us

through the eyes of our past.

But our feelings

cannot change what

JESUS has finished.

The opinions of others cannot take away

those two powerful little words~

IN CHRIST!

To live from our NEW IDENTITY,

we must

PUT OFF THE OLD SELF~

the old thoughts,

the old labels,

the old lies,

and the old desires

that quietly creep back in and cause us to forget

whose we are.

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self…”

(Ephesians 4:22).

When you may feel rejected,

rejection does not define you.

When you may feel afraid,

 fear does not name you.

When you may feel anxious,

 anxiety is not your identity.

Those words may describe

what you may be walking through,

but they do not describe

who

YOU ARE IN CHRIST.

The lie begins when we allow what we feel

to become who we believe we are.

It happens when we forget whose we are

and place our eyes back on ourselves,

instead of fixing them on

JESUS.

But we are not called

to put off

the words IN CHRIST.

We are called to

PUT OFF THE OLD SELF

and

PUT ON THE NEW SELF~

“to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self,

created to be like GOD in true righteousness and holiness"

(Ephesians 4:23–24).

PUTTING ON THE NEW SELF

is not about dressing up a better version of yourself.

It is allowing

the life,

the character,

and the holiness of

JESUS

to become visible through you,

So perhaps the first question is not,

WHO AM I?

Perhaps the first question is,

WHO IS JESUS?

Because when you know who HE IS,

you remember WHOSE you ARE.

Today,

listen carefully

to the statements you make about yourself.

Then place these two words beside them~

IN CHRIST.

You may be amazed by how many old labels no longer fit.

Just try it~

I am rejected IN CHRIST.

I am unforgiven IN CHRIST.

I am guilty IN CHRIST.

Don't you see how those lables do not fit,

so why try to make them fit.

Lay them down.

Put them off.

FIX YOUR EYES ON JESUS

and remember~

you did not make yourself NEW.

JESUS made you NEW.

From old to NEW.

From rejected to ACCEPTED.

From condemned to FORGIVEN.

From self-focused

to CHRIST-CENTERED.

Because

"IT'S NOT ABOUT ME",

because it is all about

"WHO I AM" *

IN CHRIST!

*(listen to the song below)

https://youtu.be/ZrpTTtvrRfI?si=89fe3IhaPYHEStb6