As I consider my relationship with God, through His only Son, Jesus Christ, I realize that I need to understand who I am in Christ. IT is not just “what” I do, but “who” I am.
What I do is all about who I am in Christ.
Who am I in Christ?
I am God’s daughter – chosen by Him [John 15:16: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”], loved by Him [Romans 5:8: “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”], regenerated by Him [Titus 3:5: “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit”], and I am being sanctified in Him [1 Thessalonians 5:23: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”].
I am God’s servant. I am being conformed to the image of my amazing Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As God works in me, as He renews my mind, the things of this world lose significance, and because of who I am in Christ, the acts of service for the benefit of others are because of who I am. They are not works to earn anything, since I already have God’s full approval, because of the blood of Jesus!
As God’s servant I simply don’t “do” acts of service. My acts of service are an outpouring of who I am in Jesus.
Consider generosity. When I serve God by being generous, it is far deeper than what I am doing by giving money to church, helping those in need, etc. I am generous because of who I am in Christ. It is all about my new nature. Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” Generosity is an outpouring of the new nature God has given me. Acts 20:35: “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Since I have a new nature, being generous is who I am – because that is who God is. He is generous. God doesn’t simply do acts of kindness. He IS kindness. It is His character. It is who He is. Once God’s Holy Spirit regenerated me, a change in character began to take place in me. Anyone can do an act of kindness, but it isn’t always done because of having a new character in God.
Why can God’s people be generous? We can be generous because God is generous with us. He owns everything, as He states in Psalm 50:12: “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and everything in it is mine.” But God is generous to us in giving us the gift of eternal life, food, water, clothing, and so much more. God’s generosity can never be matched, as He points out in Malachi 3:10: “Bring all the tithes (the tenth) into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you [so great] a blessing until there is no more room to receive it.” Amplified Version
Consider hospitality. God’s people are hospitable, because that is who we are in Christ. It is not something we do because we expect to gain anything. It is something we do because that is who we are in Christ. Our new nature stirs us to open our homes to others.
Consider holiness. God’s people are holy, because He is holy. At the time of regeneration, God imputes His righteousness into our being. We are holy because it is His holiness in us at work through His indwelling Holy Spirit. We cannot create our own holiness. It comes through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
All of this, and more, are a test of whether we have a true relationship with Jesus, because character matters. Jesus exemplified this for us in how He lived His life, because of who He is. He wasn’t simply doing loving and kind acts. He is love. He is kindness. He is so much more than we can learn about in His Word. When we get to heaven, we will learn even more about who He is!
How does this all take place in us?
It starts when we are born again into a living relationship with God, through Jesus.
DNA defines our physical makeup, making us who we are physically.
But God deposits His “spiritual DNA” into us when we are born again. Through His Spirit, HE is working His character into us.
Ruth 3:11 states: “And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character.” When God puts His spiritual DNA into us, and as we are infiltrated with His character, the world takes notice, as it did with Ruth.
How motivated are you to have God infiltrate your being – your heart, mind, and soul – so that you can be known as God’s daughter? The next time you act, will you consider if you are doing so because it is “who you are in Christ”?
Below are the ten commandments from Exodus 20:1-17:
“And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
“You shall not murder.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Having read the above commandments, what do they say about who we are in Christ, when He is our Lord and Savior?
Who we are in Christ is very different than the character of people who don’t have a personal relationship with God through Jesus.
May we, as God’s people, make Him known by who we are in Christ!
If Jesus isn’t your Lord and Savior, please reach out to me so we can talk further about who you can be in Jesus. You can reach me at: ButGodCares@gmail.com.
Living for Jesus, Donna
P.S. If this has helped you, please share it with others!
Note: If the verses for Bible references do not appear when you hover over them, go directly to the website, and they should appear for you. Also, please remember to look at the full context of the verses by reading the complete passage.
Copyright 2025 Donna Shappy All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – without the prior permission of the author.