Embracing Your True Identity: You Are New in Christ

At Lakeview Christian Church, our mission to “Be the Change” is rooted in the life-changing love and grace of Jesus. We don’t just want to talk about transformation—we want to experience it, live it, and share it. In Drew’s sermon, we learned that our truest identity isn’t shaped by our worst mistakes or our best achievements. It’s defined by what Jesus has done for us and who He says we are.

Shame, Grace, and a New Beginning

So many of us carry shame like a heavy backpack, convinced that our failures define us. Maybe you’ve thought, “How could God possibly love me after what I’ve done?” David—the great king of Israel, the man after God’s own heart—knew that kind of shame. But as Drew emphasized, even on his darkest days, David was still God’s child.

Listen to these words:
“If you’re in the middle of shame, I need you to remember you’re new. God made you new and you are his son or you are his daughter no matter what. The days you get it right, you’re his child in whom he is well pleased. The days you’re like David and you think you’ve sinned beyond compare, I need you to hear this. You are God’s child in whom he is well pleased.”

This assurance doesn’t come from anything we’ve done. It comes from the finished work of Jesus.

Our Identity: Rooted in Christ

Our identity is not earned by credentials, performance, or pedigree. As Drew put it, “David’s identity never came from David’s credentials. It came from Jesus’s righteousness alone.”
Paul writes in Romans 8:1 (NIV):

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

And again in Galatians 3:26 (NIV):

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.”

This is the gospel: We are accepted, loved, and made new—not because of who we are, but because of who He is.

Standing in the Face of Giants

Drew reminded us how this new identity empowers us to face life’s greatest challenges. Like David, who stood before Goliath not in his own strength, but in the confidence of who God was and who he was in God, we too can stand firm in the face of “giants”—whether circumstances, grief, or regret.

“When we understand that, we will stand in the face of giants and circumstances and dead children that we cannot face in any other way, and we will look into that situation with worship and hope, just like David.”

The “Just 3”: Living Out Our New Identity

Being the change Jesus calls us to be at Lakeview Christian Church of Portage Lakes means living out our new identity by:

• Study: “Study to love and know God.” We immerse ourselves in Scripture not to earn God’s approval, but to encounter His love and discover who we are in Him. When we fill our minds with His truth, shame loses its grip and hope takes root.
• Share: “Share to know and love others.” Our stories of brokenness and redemption matter. When we share with vulnerability, we create space for others to step out of shame and into grace. We become a community where masks come off and real transformation happens.
• Serve: “Serve: Love in action.” The grace we’ve received is not just for us. It sends us out to serve, to love, to be agents of change—just as Jesus has changed us.

Will You Pick Up a New Identity?

Some reading this may need to accept this for the first time: “It doesn’t matter who you are, where you came from. Jesus is waiting for you at the foot of the cross and he loves you.”
If you’ve believed the lie that your past disqualifies you, let the truth of the gospel set you free. In Christ, you are new. You are loved. You are God’s child.

Let’s be a church that embodies this identity—where shame is drowned out by grace, and every person is encouraged to “Be the Change” as Jesus has changed us.