How to Be More Confident in Your Identity in Christ Part 5: Growing in Christ-likeness

​I love learning about our identity in Christ. I love writing about our identity in Christ. I love encouraging women in their identity in Christ.

But I often find in our conversations about our identity in Christ that we like to talk about who we are in Christ - chosen, loved, beautiful daughters of God - but forget the aspect of growing in Christ-likeness.

Yes, we are chosen and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12, one of my favorite verses, tells us this!), but we are also holy and called to live in holiness (Colossians 3:12 also tells us this).

Holiness might seem like an unattainable, guilt-inducing, legalistic standard. But in relationship with Jesus, holiness doesn’t mean perfect performance, never messing up, and checking all good-Christian-boxes.

​It really means Christ-likeness - reflecting the character of Christ in our character.

Reflecting Jesus

​In Genesis 1:26, we read that we are created in the image of God. This means we were created to be in relationship with God and we were created to reflect God in our relationships with others.

Jesus showed us while He walked this earth what it looks like to live as who we were created to be: in the image of God, living in relationship with the Father and reflecting His character in relationship with others.

The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God.   Hebrews 1:3
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.   Colossians 1:15

When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.   John 15:10

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.   John 1:18

If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him… Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
​John 14:7, 9-10

​Jesus is still showing us what it means to live as who we were created to be through the work of His Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds. The Holy Spirit teaches and reminds us of who Jesus is, what Jesus says, and who we are in Christ.

When the Father sends the Advocate as my representative - that is, the Holy Spirit - he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.   John 14:26

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.   Romans 8:16

​Reflecting Jesus, living in holiness, growing in Christ-likeness - these are important aspects of our identity in Christ - and of being confident in that identity - because they speak of transformation, a true change of who we are, from the inside out.

They speak not only of who we are in Christ, but who we are becoming in Christ.

​Who We Are and Who We Are Becoming

Colossians 3:10 says to us, “You have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

When we trust in Jesus as our Savior, we become a new person and there is a new way for us to live - “a life filled with love, following the example of Christ” (Eph. 5:2). In this new way, as we grow in our relationship with Jesus, we are continually being renewed in the image of God; we are continually becoming who we were created to be.

I like the way Colossians 3:10 in the NLT says it: 

Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.

​​It is in growing in Christ-likeness that our identity in Christ carries over to our character, and our character carries over to how we live our daily lives.

The theological terms for this idea are positional holiness and practical holiness.

When we trust in Jesus as our Savior, we are made righteous and holy, we are redeemed and restored, we are forgiven and set free.

This is our position in Christ. Our position is right-standing with God, restored relationship with God, freedom, security and completeness in Christ.

Practical holiness speaks of how we live as new creations in Christ. In our new position in Christ, we are called to practice righteousness and holiness in our attitudes and actions.

This is what that favorite verse of mine, Colossians 3:12, speaks of:

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

This verse first affirms who we are in Christ: chosen, holy, and loved.

And since this is who God chose us to be, created us to be, calls us to be, He also wants to clothe us in godly character. He wants to work in our hearts - to shape us, transform us, grow us - so we live in ways that reflect our identity in Christ and our relationship with God.

This is also talked about in Galatians 5, where Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit:

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves… The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control… Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.   Galatians 5:16, 22-23, 25

​Growing in Christ-likeness is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. We are admonished to submit to, engage in, and cooperate with that work. It is a relationship - the relationship we were created for - and in this relationship, our lives will bear forth fruit - evidence of a changed heart and transformed character.

The Work

​It is the work of the Holy Spirit, and we are admonished to engage in that work, to “follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” (Galatians 5:25)

Here are some ways we do that:

Get to know Jesus through His Word
Jesus’ disciples got to know Him and learned how to live as He wanted them to by spending time with Him. We can do the same through getting into God’s Word.

Pray
Ask the Holy Spirit for help and guidance in living in Christ-likeness.

Obey the Spirit’s leading
As the Holy Spirit does give help and guidance (because He definitely will!), be obedient to what He is telling you to do.

Confess and repent of sin
We’re not always obedient. We don’t always act Christ-like. We do still sin. So when the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin, confess and repent. This is an important practice because it not only acknowledges our sin, but it recognizes God’s holy and gracious character, and reminds us of who we are in Christ - forgiven and freed from sin.

Follow the example of mature Christians
We can learn from other Christians what it looks like to live in holiness, walk in faith, and be obedient.

Our identity in Christ isn’t just about giving us confidence, setting us free from shame, or banishing doubts about our worth.

Our identity in Christ is about becoming who we were created to be: those who know they are loved by God “living a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.” (Ephesians 5:1)