Why Your Identity in Christ Begins with Repentance

Seven words on a Facebook post

Recently I was scrolling Facebook and came across a post from a local women’s ministry page. It listed seven words: Chosen. Loved. Seen. Free. Beloved. Cherished. Valued.

It encouraged women to hold onto whichever one they needed, write it down, and speak it over themselves. Then it closed with a question: “Which one did you need to be reminded of today?”

I’ve seen some version of that post a hundred times. I’ve probably shared a few. And I want to be careful here, because I’m not writing to pick on anyone. I’m writing because this little post is a good example of something I keep coming back to in women’s ministry, and it says a lot about how we talk about our identity in Christ.

None of these words are wrong

Let me say this clearly: if you belong to Christ, those words are true of you. Paul tells believers they were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, adopted as sons, and blessed with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3-6). That’s not a small thing. It’s breathtaking.

But notice the condition. Every one of those blessings is “in Christ.” Paul wrote Ephesians to the saints, to people who had already turned from sin and trusted Jesus (Ephesians 1:1).

A public post doesn’t make that distinction. It tells every woman scrolling by that she’s chosen, loved, and free, whether or not she knows Christ. For a woman outside of Christ, that’s false comfort. The most loving thing we can tell her isn’t that she’s already cherished as she is. It’s how she can come to the One who saves.

Look at the order Paul uses

Open Ephesians 2:1-10 and pay attention to the order. Before Paul gets to being made alive and seated with Christ, he starts somewhere much darker. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. We followed the world and the desires of the flesh. We were by nature children of wrath (Ephesians 2:1-3).

Then come two of the most beautiful words in Scripture: “But God” (Ephesians 2:4). Rich in mercy, because of His great love, He made us alive together with Christ.

You can’t skip to the second half and keep the meaning of the first. “But God” only shines against the darkness that comes before it. Being chosen and loved lands the way Scripture intends when we’ve first reckoned with what we were chosen out of.

Where women’s ministry gets stuck

This is where I think a lot of women’s ministry gets stuck. The goal quietly becomes helping women feel good about themselves and leave encouraged.

Encouragement is a gift, and I would never argue against it. But when it becomes the whole focus, the gospel gets trimmed down to whatever comforts us most. And repentance rarely makes it into the conversation.

The gospel Jesus preached started with repentance: “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15). So did Peter’s first sermon. When the crowd was pierced to the heart and asked what to do, Peter’s first word was “Repent” (Acts 2:36-38).

When that part gets left out, we end up with encouragement that feels wonderful in the moment but doesn’t give us much to hold onto when real life shows up. A sticky note can’t carry you through a diagnosis, a betrayal, or your own sin. A Savior who rescued you from death can.

A quick check: Observation, Interpretation, Application

If you’ve studied the Bible with me before, you know I love a simple Observation, Interpretation, Application check. Run those identity words through it and the same picture shows up.

1. Observe who the text is written to. Ephesians is written to believers, to those “in Christ” (Ephesians 1:1-3). These promises have an address.
2. Interpret what the promise rests on. Our identity rests on His finished work, not on how we feel about ourselves. We’re saved by grace through faith, and not of ourselves (Ephesians 2:8-9).
3. Apply it the way Scripture does. The response to grace isn’t just a sweet sentiment to write on a sticky note. It’s repentance, gratitude, and obedience. We were created in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2:10), and we’re called to repent and return so our sins may be wiped away (Acts 3:19).

Your identity in Christ isn’t a mood to declare over yourself. It’s a reality God declared over you at the cost of His Son.

A better question to ask today

So here’s my gentle challenge. Before you ask which word you needed today, ask a different question: Where do I need to repent today?

Then let the “But God” do what only it can do. Real comfort isn’t found by skipping past our sin. It’s found on the other side of it, at the cross, where we’re forgiven and made new.

Friend, I’m saying this as someone who has absolutely written the sticky note and stuck it on her bathroom mirror. Comfort is a good gift from God. It just can’t be the whole meal.