My Identity in the New Year / Guest Post by Chris Heaton

New year, new you? NOPE! It has nothing to do with who we were in 2023 vs. who we want to become in 2024, or even the goals that we missed or the habits that didn’t change from the previous year. We’ve already been made a new creation with a new identity rooted in Christ! We don’t need to become anybody else at the turn of the year: we need to SURRENDER lies and then ACCEPT and REMAIN in who God declares us to be!

Of course, regaining focus, setting goals, and striving to be better in various areas of our life are all great things, but our purpose, passion, and power come from the Lord. Just as the Lord said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” we also, are who He declares us to be! We need to surrender our self-proclaimed identities and embrace our identity in Christ!

So, what does it look like to start the year off focusing on our identity in Christ and allowing that to mold us?

James 4:2-3 – You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Wow, what a wake-up call! Our hearts are deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9), we pursue things with wrong motives, and even boast about our future plans. Normally, we set goals for the new year based off two things from the previous year: 1. Who we perceive we were or weren’t. 2. What circumstances in our life we want changed. If our goals for the new year come from an idea that we were a failure or fell short in 2023, how do you think that will shape how we walk moving forward? How did that work out for us with 2023’s resolutions from 2022? We need to surrender control over tomorrow’s plans based on yesterday’s identity!

Knowing who God says we are in scripture must be our starting point to shape how we come into 2024. Which is why it is imperative to come into the new year fully surrendered to the Lord and seeking his truths about us in scripture. We cannot look at our past year and assess what we think needs to be changed, what we need to focus our time and effort on and move forward as if we know what’s best. Seek the Lord in scripture and prayer, allow Him to examine you, give Him access and control of your heart, and see where He leads you. Good desires with wrong motives will rot what we pursue.

Colossians 2:6-7 – So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Accept your identity being rooted and built up in Christ. It all starts with being rooted in, built up by, and strengthened in faith by the absolute truths from the word of God. This need to happen today and every day. Reading and meditating on scripture are imperative if we want to begin walking in the power of who God wants us to be. Scripture helps us remain steadfast in the truth and rebuke disparaging or discouraging lies/situations we encounter daily. Through God’s word and spending time with Him in prayer, we get to know our true identity and experience the Lord of the universe declaring His love and affection for us. What a reason to be strengthened in our faith and overflow with thankfulness!

John 15:4 – Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

CHRIST IN ME! When our identity is rooted in Christ and we resolve to walk in the truth, God produces fruit that lasts. Nothing of eternal significance in our families or lives can be accomplished without God being at the center. Fruit is a direct result of intimacy with Jesus and living out our identity in Christ.

Imagine, an infinite God expressing himself through us if our identity is in him! If we accept and walk in who he declares us to be, we get to showcase his majesty in a unique way. So, remember, abide is a verb. To remain in Jesus isn’t passive or past tense, it’s a daily pursuit for intimacy and alignment. So, abide in Him with persistence

This year, instead of trying to change habits or set lofty goals to kick off the New Year, let’s seek God and ask him who we are in Christ. Surrender your year and your plans and lay them at the Father’s feet. He made you exactly the way you are to carry out great things and it all starts with living out your identity in Christ.

SURRENDER yesterday’s identity.
ACCEPT my identity in Christ today.
REMAIN in Him moving forward.

Let’s have an amazing year!