A Pause After the Identity Series
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:17
Well.
That was a lot, wasn’t it?
Over the past days we’ve walked through some deep waters together—justification, adoption, rest, union with Christ, the Spirit, new creation. It’s beautiful truth… but if we’re honest, sometimes learning these things can feel a little like spiritual renovation.
And renovations are wonderful.
But they’re also noisy.
Walls come down. Dust fills the air. Old structures that felt familiar—even if they weren’t healthy—get removed. And while we know the end result will be better, there’s a moment in the middle where the house looks… well… like a construction zone.
That can be what discovering our identity in Christ feels like.
God gently begins removing things we once built our lives on—approval, comparison, control, old habits, old labels—and suddenly we realize:
Oh… I don’t live there anymore.
And sometimes, strangely enough, we mourn it.
Not because the old identity was good—but because it was familiar.
When God Changes Your Identity
The Bible is full of moments where God gives someone a new identity.
Abram becomes Abraham.
Sarai becomes Sarah.
Jacob becomes Israel.
Simon becomes Peter.
Saul becomes Paul.
Each new name signals something deeper: a new direction, a new calling, a new future.
But here’s something we don’t talk about much:
Those transitions were messy.
Jacob didn’t instantly become calm and noble the moment God renamed him Israel.
Peter didn’t instantly stop being impulsive.
Paul didn’t become the fearless missionary overnight.
Identity was given in a moment—but learning to live from it took time.
And the same is true for us.
The Strangest Part of Becoming New
Sometimes the hardest part of becoming a new creation is not believing God’s truth—it’s letting go of the old story we told about ourselves.
Maybe it was:
“I’m the responsible one.”
“I’m the strong one.”
“I’m the one who fixes everything.”
“I’m the one who always messes up.”
“I’m the one people overlook.”
Even negative identities can become strangely comfortable because they’re familiar.
But Scripture reminds us:
“Do not lie to each other, since 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..”
— Colossians 3:9–10
Notice the language.
You have taken off the old self.
But the new self is being renewed.
That’s a process.
A holy unfolding.
A Little Story from Jesus
One of my favorite moments in the Gospels happens after the resurrection.
The disciples are back in Galilee, standing by the Sea of Tiberias. And Peter—bless him—does something very human.
He says:
“I’m going fishing.”
— John 21:3
(Abbreviated, please get your bible and read full text, Kind reminder to get in your word)
Now this sounds innocent, but remember Peter’s story.
This is the same Peter who denied Jesus three times. The same Peter who had promised loyalty and then collapsed under pressure.
So what does he do?
He goes back to the one identity he knew before Jesus.
Fisherman.
Safe. Familiar. Understandable.
But Jesus doesn’t shame him.
Instead, Jesus shows up on the shore and calls out:
“Children, have you caught any fish?”
— John 21:5
(You can almost hear the gentle humor in it.)
Peter and the others had caught nothing all night.
Jesus then tells them to cast the net again—and suddenly the boat is overflowing with fish.
Sound familiar?
It’s the exact miracle from the beginning of Peter’s calling.
Jesus is reminding him:
You may feel like the old version of yourself… but I haven’t forgotten who you really are.
And then Jesus cooks breakfast.
Bread. Fish. A charcoal fire.
No lecture.
Just presence.
Just restoration.
Just the quiet reminder that Peter is still the man Jesus called.
Sometimes We Just Need Breakfast with Jesus
There’s something incredibly comforting about this moment.
Jesus doesn’t say:
“Peter, you clearly haven’t processed the last three weeks of theology properly.”
He simply says:
“Come and have breakfast.”
— John 21:12
(Again Abbreviated, open your bible its calling you)
Sometimes walking in our new identity doesn’t require another lesson.
Sometimes we just need to sit with Jesus again.
To breathe.
To remember that the One who called us is still here.
The Joy of Walking Forward
The beautiful thing about identity in Christ is that it doesn’t demand perfection.
It invites direction.
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.”
— Philippians 1:6
You are not responsible for finishing the work God began.
You’re responsible for walking with Him while He does it.
And if you stumble along the way?
Welcome to the human race.
Even the disciples did that regularly.
(Thomas doubted. Peter panicked. James and John argued about seating arrangements in heaven. Honestly, it’s a miracle the early church functioned at all.)
And yet Jesus loved them.
Led them.
Transformed them.
And He will do the same with you.
A Breath of Fresh Air
So if the last series stirred things up inside you—if God revealed places where your old identity had roots—don’t panic.
That’s not destruction.
That’s renovation.
And the Architect knows exactly what He’s building.
So today, take a breath.
Lift your eyes back to Jesus.
Walk forward in the new life He’s given you—not anxiously, not trying to prove something, but with the quiet confidence that comes from belonging.
Because the truth remains:
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are!”
— 1 John 3:1
Not someday.
Not after you figure everything out.
Right now.
Something to Sit With
You don’t have to rush into your new identity.
You just have to keep walking with the One who gave it to you.
And sometimes that walk looks like learning.
Sometimes it looks like growing.
And sometimes…
It just looks like breakfast with Jesus.
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