There are two things that are at odds in most of our lives. Who we are and what we do. Sometimes we let what we do define who we are. But then what happens when we fail? The goal of this post is to help you see past what you do to the reality of who you are.

When we look at our lives it’s easy to get a tad discouraged. There is always someone who is better than us. There is always someone who is faster than us or more efficient than we are at a given task. It doesn’t take much effort to find the shortcomings in our lives, and if our identity is determined by our action then we are in trouble!

However, if we step back from our actions for a moment and realize that our identity is found outside of our accomplishments and failures we will have a better grasp on what is most important. So in short…

Who you are is not determined by what you do but what you do determines who you are. Share on X

When we get our identity and our actions out of order, we quickly lose focus of that which is most important. In the church world, we like to use the word covenant to describe who we are in relation to God. He made a covenant with us that doesn’t rely on what we do but on who he is and what he does for us. It’s all about our identity. It means that who we are is determined apart from what we do. It’s this reality that gives us the title Child of God. It’s this reality that invites us into a deeper relationship with him. God’s covenant with us draws us into a place where his love and care transform who we are regardless of our past.

So if the identity part is determined by God then the action piece of our lives should be determined by our understanding of identity. We call that kingdom. It means that God has invited us into a relationship with him and given us a place in his kingdom. When we have a place in a ruling kingdom, it means we have authority and power and responsibility. This is no different in our relationship with God. He not only calls us children, but also freely gives us all of the resources that are at his disposal. So if he loves us before we do anything then why do we have to do anything?

You see we live out our identity through actions because his love for us doesn’t want us to stay in an ok state. He wants more for us than to survive. He wants us to thrive! This is why he calls us victorious. He gave us the victory over the less than stellar moments in our lives. When our identity is grounded in God’s love for us, then our actions will look like that new identity.

I know, we all mess up. We all fail. We all do things we will one day regret. Those moments are not defining moments. Let the grace of Christ define you. And let this new identity determine how you live.