As we step into a new year, I’ve been thinking a lot about identity. We live in a culture that constantly tells us we need to figure out who we are, to build it, brand it, defend it, and prove it. We’re encouraged to craft our identity like a sculpture, shaping ourselves into something impressive, acceptable, or admired. If I’m honest, that feels exhausting. Especially if, at some point in your life, you were told, either with words or with silence, that you weren’t really worth much to begin with. Over time, I’ve come to realize something important: identity in Christ isn’t actually hard to understand. What’s hard is receiving it. That’s what I want to sit with here. Not who you should be. Not who you’re trying to become. But how we begin receiving who God already says we are, in Christ. Scripture makes it clear that our identity flows from what Jesus has done, not what we manage to do right. Because of His life, death, and resurrection, we are forgiven, redeemed, reconciled, chosen, and loved. Not because we earned it. Not because we achieved it. Simply because God chose us and made a way for us to