Becoming Who You Already Are
READ
There's a paradox at the heart of Christian identity. On the one hand, if you're in Christ, you're already a new creation. Your identity is secure. You're already beloved, redeemed, made righteous. On the other hand, in today’s passages, Paul keeps urging believers to "become" what they already are—to put off the old self and put on the new, to live worthy of their calling, to be transformed.
Let’s take a moment to read Ephesians 4:1,22-24:
"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received... You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self... and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
REFLECT
So which is it? Are you already new, or are you still becoming?
The answer is yes. Both. You already are who God says you are, and you're still becoming that person more fully every day. Your identity in Christ is settled. But the work of living into that identity—of aligning every part of your life with that core reality—that's the journey of a lifetime.
Think about it like this: when a couple gets married, they become husband and wife the moment they say "I do." Their identity changes instantly. But becoming the kind of spouse who truly embodies the fullness of that commitment? That takes years. Decades. A lifetime. They're already married, and they're still becoming married—learning to live more fully into the identity they've received.
This is what Paul means when he urges believers to "live a life worthy of the calling you have received." He's not saying, "Try really hard to earn your identity." He's saying, "You've been given this incredible identity—now let it shape everything. Become on the outside who you already are on the inside."
This is where your "one word" becomes more than a New Year's resolution. It becomes a tool for alignment. You're not using your word to construct an identity from scratch. You're using it to help orient your whole self around the identity God has already given you.
If your word is "brave," you're not trying to become someone you're not. You're recognizing that God has already called you to courage—and you're asking Him to help you live into that calling more fully. You're becoming who you already are.
The goal of this journey isn't to impress God or earn His approval. The goal is His glory—His image restored and revealed in you. When your whole life comes into alignment with your true identity, when every part of you is integrated and oriented around God's love and purpose, you become a living testimony to His transforming power.
And here's what happens: you become capable of stewarding God's work. Not because you've perfected yourself, but because you've become whole. A whole person—someone whose identity is clear, whose life is integrated, whose character is rooted in God—can carry responsibility that would crush a fragmented person.
God isn't asking you to hold your life together through sheer willpower. He's inviting you to offer your whole life to Him, to let Him shape your whole life around His truth, and to align your whole life with His purpose. A whole life offered. A whole life shaped. A whole life aligned.
That's the invitation of this year. Not to add religious activities to an otherwise unchanged life. Not to try harder to be good. But to let God form you into the person you already are in Christ—whole, integrated, and capable of participating in His renewing work in the world.
You already belong to Him. You're already beloved. You're already new. Now live like it. Become who you already are.
RESPOND
Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.
How does understanding that you're "becoming who you already are" relieve pressure while still inviting growth and transformation?
Where in your life do you see the biggest gap between your identity in Christ and how you actually live day-to-day? What would it look like to bring those into greater alignment?
REST
Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:
Lord, thank You that my identity is secure in You—I am already loved, already redeemed, already new. Now help me become on the outside who I already am on the inside. Use this year to align my whole life with Your truth. Form me into a person capable of stewarding Your work with wisdom and faithfulness. I offer You my whole self. Make me whole. Amen.