We are all created in God’s image, but we each have a unique role to fill in his kingdom. Our identity is equally secure and beloved in Christ, yet our personalities are vastly different from each other. And that’s a good thing! We ought to celebrate each other’s unique personalities, giftings, and perspectives.
Yet we must not mistake our personality for our identity in Christ. When we conflate the two, we end up falling for destructive lies. We can believe that, well, we’re just created this way—with explosive anger or crippling shyness or unavoidable sloth—and that we’ll always be this way. Or perhaps we assume that we shouldn’t have to do things that are uncomfortable for our personality type. We limit what God can use us for, and we may hurt people while trying to help.
Our personalities aren’t mirages; they are real features of our identity. But does this mean that if I’m an introvert, I’m never called to host a gathering? Or that if I’m direct and opinionated, I’m never called to be quiet? If we believe that our personality traits can be used only for one purpose or in a certain way, we are being deceived by the enemy and hindered from living out life in God’s kingdom to its fullest.
“If we believe that our personality traits can be used only for one purpose or in a certain way, we are being deceived by the enemy and hindered from living out life in God’s kingdom to its fullest.”
Not only do we pigeonhole ourselves, but we often allow others to pigeonhole themselves too. When someone tells you they are opinionated or strong-willed, it is often code for saying that you better give in to them. If someone is mild-mannered or quiet, we might take it that they will be at peace no matter the circumstance, so it’s okay to walk all over them. When our identity is constructed around our personality, or around what our family/community says we are, our identity becomes a moving target depending on our audience and situation.
Finding our identity in Christ, rather than in our personality traits, is crucial for carrying out his mission for our lives. It’s true that knowing our personality can be freeing and empowering (it’s good to know what we’re good at), but it can just as easily be used as an excuse for laziness, fear, or unwillingness to change.
Only when our identity is grounded in the never-changing Christ will we stand up to the ever-changing tides of life and carry out the kingdom work he designed us for—the reason he gave us the unique personality we have in the first place. Having our identity in Christ will allow us to function outside our areas of comfort. Within our identity in Christ, God can challenge us to get comfortable doing things with which we may naturally struggle.
“Having our identity in Christ will allow us to function outside our areas of comfort.”
When I (Michelle) was younger, I believed that I didn’t have the personality to teach in front of people. I had done it a few times in my career and was not very good at it. I thought I’d have to be an outgoing person to teach and that some people—not I—were just born to teach. What I didn’t understand was that I was simply insecure in who I was. I had based my identity on what I could do, and since I had messed up once or twice speaking in front of an audience, I assumed that it wasn’t part of my DNA.
Eventually, I realized that my identity is in Christ and understood that whether I do a good job speaking or mess up my words, this doesn’t change my standing with God. It doesn’t change who I am. I was able to take risks and get better at a skill that previously I thought was off the table for me. It became more important that I find my confidence in my identity in Christ than to have a personality that likes to be in front of people. Forming who you are around who God says you are gives you holy courage to live beyond barriers you’ve set up for yourself because of your personality. Remember that God wants to use you in ways that are likely unimaginable to you currently, because it’s his power working through you, not your own. And it’s not for your glory but for his.
So are we clear that your identity is not the same as your personality? Good. But there’s something else you need to know about your identity. Although your identity in Christ takes you beyond the personality limitations you’ve set for yourself, it’s equally true that your identity in Christ doesn’t call you to be someone else.
“Your identity in Christ doesn’t call you to be someone else.”
The apostle Paul described it as “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). That’s Christ in you—yes, you. Even the new creation that Christ makes at your baptism is a remade you—the real you that God had in mind when he created you. It’s you with your same height and weight, family history, ethnicity, personality, sense of humor, skills. Yes, you’re being restored in a slow but sure reversal of your fall into sin. But it’s still Christ in you. Your identity in Christ fits you.
Peter was a fisherman. His father and brother, as well as probably grandfathers and great grandfathers, were fishermen. This was who he was. Peter had learned leadership skills and perseverance through hard work as a fisherman.
Jesus gave Peter a different life plan when he called him to be an apostle. And yet, it still fit Peter’s personality and skills as a fisherman. Jesus explained, “From now on you will fish for people” (Luke 5:10). In becoming the man he was designed by God to be, Peter would become even more himself, still a fisherman but with greater purpose and a more significant catch (contrast his mega-catch of 153 fish in John 21 with the megachurch of 3,000 that started after his first sermon in Acts 2). Peter’s experiences and take-charge personality that formed during his time as a fisherman were all useful under God’s care and control. It’s true that we read about some of the mistakes Peter made along the way. His boldness tended toward impetuousness, and it got him into trouble at times. But under God’s guidance, Peter’s personality and abilities were used for God’s kingdom in mighty ways.
Want to learn more about how Jesus defines our identity? What you’ve just read is an excerpt from Identity: Who You Really Are in Christ by Anthony Walker and Michelle Eagle. Check out a free eBook here and the full book here.
