She's This, She's That: Finding Your Identity in Christ.

When you go throughout your daily life, it's so easy to look at someone and say she's successful, she's the pretty one, or she's perfect. The world is all about defining someone and women by what they do, what they look like, how they act, and how others see them. However, your identity doesn't come from the opinions and comparisons of others, it comes from Christ.

It's incredibly easy to lean onto the labels of others instead of the faith Christ has instilled in you and the path He has for you, but it's not impossible.

The women throughout the Bible show us different ways that they denied the opinions and regularities of the world in their time and they followed Jesus in the moments you typically would give up or follow the status-quo.

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Deborah (Judges 4-5)

Deborah wasn’t defined by what her culture expected of her. She lived between 1200 and 1107 B.C. and served as both a judge and a prophetess in Israel. That alone was unusual, because at the time women rarely had any say in leadership or decisions.

When Israel’s commander Barak prepared to face Sisera in battle, Deborah boldly reminded him that the Lord had already promised victory (Judges 4:6–7). Still, Barak hesitated. He told her in Judges 4:8, “I will go, but only if you go with me.”

Deborah agreed to go, but she made it clear that the honor would not belong to Barak. Instead, God would hand Sisera over to a woman (Judges 4:9). That moment shows just how unexpected her role was in that culture, but also how secure she was in her identity as a servant of God.

Mary, Mother of Jesus. (Luke 1:26-38)

Mary is such a clear example of not letting labels decide who you are in Christ. Back then, being pregnant and unmarried was considered incredibly shameful. Deuteronomy 22:20 even says women in that situation could be stoned.

But when the angel told Mary she would become pregnant through the Holy Spirit, she didn’t hesitate. She didn’t argue about the rules, or stress about what people might say, or spiral into all the “what ifs.” Think about it, if someone asked you to do something public and embarrassing today, your mind would probably go straight to doubt and fear. Yet Mary’s answer was simple: “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true” (Luke 1:38).

Mary knew exactly who she was in God. She looked at herself as His servant, not as someone trapped by the world’s opinions. She didn’t let shame or people’s ideas define her. She let God alone define her, and that is what living in your identity in Christ looks like.

The Samaritan Woman. (John 4:4-26)

The Samaritan Woman in the Bible is a powerful example of how much Jesus loves us and wants us to have our hearts within Him and not within the world and its labels for us. The Samaritan Woman is well known for what Jesus said to her being made into a joke, but if there's anything you need to know about Jesus, it's that He would convict His children and tell them of their sins in a kind way.

The Samaritan Woman is a woman who had five husbands and was living with another man at that time. She goes to the well for water and this is where Jesus finds her. In her regular routine, exactly where she is.

Another thing to note is that Jews and Samaritans did not mingle, and Jewish people typically wanted nothing to do with them (Luke 4:9). But Jesus did not care for these labels and these opinions, He saw the woman for who she was and who she can be.

When Jesus met this woman, she was written off as an outcast in her community. She let her past define her and that was her identity, her past. But Jesus revealed to her that He is the Messiah (Luke 4:26) and that He can give her living water (Luke 4:10). Jesus wanting to give her this reveals His plans for her beyond her past and in His will for her.

The Samaritan Woman was no longer an outcast after she found Jesus, but she was a witness who ran back to her town and told everyone about Jesus. She shows us that our past doesn't define us, Jesus does.

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Living Our Your Identity in Christ.

Each of these women show us different ways they denied the labels and instead leaned onto who they were in Christ. The scripture tells us who we are in Him:

• You are chosen. (1 Peter 2:9)

• You are loved. (Romans 8:38-39)

• You are redeemed. (Ephesians 1:7)

The world will always try to define you in their own labels and by your actions, past, or mistakes. But Jesus will always be the consistent rock for you to lean on.

As Jeemin Moon writes on Biblical Counseling Coalition, “Christian identity redirects our purpose from serving ourselves to serving God and others, a transformation made possible through Christ’s redemptive work” (Biblical Counseling Coalition, 2024).

This quote from Jeemin Moon is a great way to define the difference in a worldly identity and an identity in Christ. This is a change of perspective and an outlook that goes from yourself to others.

As you grow in your faith, I pray that you remember that God has already written His word on your heart, and His will for your life. Your identity is not in the opinions of others, your circumstances or in your mistakes, so when you fall into moments of weakness, remind yourself that you are not these labels and declare, "I am His."