Four complete classes, straight from the Discipleship University curriculum — each with an ice breaker, key teaching, scripture, application, and a full Biblical Foundations study. Take one class a week, or go at your own pace.
Most of us are living out of an identity that was assigned to us by someone else.
"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
What is one word people used to describe you growing up? Was it accurate?
Identity is formed early. By age 7, most children have core beliefs about who they are. Those beliefs came from parents, teachers, peers, trauma, media, and religion. Some were life-giving. Some were life-stealing. The key question is not just 'Who am I?' but 'Who TOLD me who I am — and were they qualified to do that?'
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."Psalm 139:14
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart."Jeremiah 1:5
Complete an Identity Audit: 'Growing up, I was told I was _______.' 'I came to believe I was _______.' 'The person/event that shaped that belief most was _______.' 'Is that belief true? YES / NO / PARTIALLY.' This is the foundation for everything we do in this course.
This week, every time you catch yourself thinking 'I AM [negative label],' pause and ask: 'Who told me that? Are they more qualified than God to define me?' Write the labels that come up — we'll address them next week.
Go Deeper
A condensed Bible study on every scripture used in this class
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."Psalm 139:14
Continuing David's meditation in Psalm 139 (covered earlier in vv.13,16), this verse is David's response to the realization that God knit him together personally. He does not respond with self-doubt or comparison — he responds with worship. Identity rooted in God's craftsmanship produces praise, not anxiety.
Fearfully (Heb. yare) means with reverent awe — a wonder that produces worship. Wonderfully made (Heb. palah) means set apart, distinguished, made remarkable. The phrase suggests not mass production but unique distinction. Know that full well (Heb. yada me'od) means deep, settled, experiential knowing.
This verse models the right response to a true theology of human identity. Knowing you were intentionally formed by God should produce worship — both of the Maker and gratitude for the made. Self-loathing is a form of disagreeing with God's creative wisdom.
Most of us were taught who we are by people who were not qualified to define us. Today, we begin the audit — and the foundation is this: God made you with intention, distinction, and skill. That cannot be undone by anyone else's words.
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."Jeremiah 1:5
God speaks these words to Jeremiah at the moment of his calling. Jeremiah is young and feels unqualified. God's response is not 'you'll grow into it' — it is 'I have known you and called you since before you existed.' Identity precedes capacity in the Kingdom.
Formed (Heb. yatsar) is the same word for the potter shaping clay — God personally crafted Jeremiah's design. Knew (Heb. yada) is intimate knowledge, relational and total. Set apart (Heb. qadash) means consecrated, made holy for a specific purpose. Appointed (Heb. nathan) means given, placed.
Your identity in God is older than your existence in time. God knew you, set you apart, and assigned you a calling before you took your first breath. This destabilizes every false label given to you afterward — they all come AFTER God's original word over your life.
The question is not just 'Who am I?' It is 'Who told me who I am — and were they qualified?' God's voice came first. He named you. Anyone who renamed you afterward — even you, even your trauma — was speaking out of order.
The labels people put on you were never yours to keep.
What is one label from your past that you are READY to let go of today?
Labels from others: 'You'll never amount to anything.' 'You're too much.' 'You're not enough.' Labels from trauma: 'I am damaged.' 'I am unlovable.' Labels from failure: 'I am a failure.' 'I am weak.' None of these are your name. God never called you any of these things. The enemy uses labels to keep you living below your design.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"2 Corinthians 5:17
"For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons."Romans 8:15
Label Removal Ceremony: Write every false label you have carried on separate pieces of paper. Read each one out loud and say: 'This is NOT my name.' Physically tear each one up and throw it away. This is symbolic — but powerful. Do not skip it.
Every morning this week, before looking at your phone, say: 'The labels of my past are not my identity. My identity comes from God.' Then read one scripture from the list that God says about you.
Go Deeper
A condensed Bible study on every scripture used in this class
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"2 Corinthians 5:17
Paul writes about the radical transformation that comes through union with Christ. He has been describing the ministry of reconciliation, and verse 17 is the foundation: the believer is no longer the same person they were before Christ. Their entire ontological category has changed.
In Christ (Gk. en Christo) — Paul's signature phrase for union with Christ. New (Gk. kainos) does not mean recently made; it means qualitatively new — a different kind altogether. New creation (Gk. kaine ktisis) echoes Genesis — God starts over. The old (Gk. ta archaia) is what came before — gone, finished, archived.
Conversion is not improvement; it is replacement. The believer is not a polished version of who they were — they are a new being. The labels that defined the old self do not transfer to the new one. The Christian's identity is not their history; it is their union with Christ.
The labels on you were stuck to a person who no longer exists. In Christ, you are a new creation. The old labels do not apply because the old self is gone. You are not who you were — and the labels that fit then do not fit now.
"The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.'"Romans 8:15
In a passage about the Spirit-filled life, Paul shifts from law to family. Christians are not employees of God or strangers in His house — they are adopted sons and daughters. The intimate term 'Abba' echoes Jesus's own prayer in Gethsemane.
Slavery (Gk. douleia) describes a posture of fear and obligation — the relationship of a slave to a master. Adoption (Gk. huiothesia) was a Roman legal practice in which an adopted child received full legal rights, including inheritance. Abba (Aram.) is the intimate, familial word a child uses for their father — the equivalent of 'Daddy.'
Christian identity is rooted in adoption, not employment. We do not serve God to earn His acceptance — we are accepted, then we serve. The labels of fear, slavery, and inadequacy do not survive contact with the truth of adoption.
Labels say 'You are damaged. You are unworthy. You are too much.' Adoption says, 'You are mine. You are home.' You cannot wear both at the same time. Choose the truer one.
Your true identity was written by God — before you were born.
Which of these do you find hardest to believe about yourself: loved, chosen, forgiven, new creation, or enough? Why?
God's declarations over your life are not suggestions — they are declarations. You are LOVED (John 3:16). You are CHOSEN (Ephesians 1:4). You are FORGIVEN (1 John 1:9). You are a NEW CREATION (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are God's MASTERPIECE (Ephesians 2:10). You are MORE THAN A CONQUEROR (Romans 8:37). These are not how you feel — they are what is TRUE.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son."John 3:16
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."Romans 8:37
Create your New Name Tag: In the center write YOUR NAME. Around it write 5 things God says about you from the scripture list. Decorate it. Keep it somewhere you will see every day. This is who you are — not who the world said you were.
Choose ONE of God's declarations that you struggle to believe the most. Memorize the scripture tied to it this week. Say it every time the old label tries to return. Faith comes by hearing — especially your own voice.
Go Deeper
A condensed Bible study on every scripture used in this class
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."John 3:16
Jesus speaks this in His night conversation with Nicodemus, a Jewish leader seeking Him in secret. It is perhaps the single most quoted verse in Scripture — and the most direct statement of God's love. The 'world' (Gk. kosmos) at this point in John's gospel refers to fallen humanity in rebellion against God.
Loved (Gk. agapao) refers to self-giving, sacrificial love that originates in the will, not the emotions. So loved (Gk. houtos egapesen) means 'in this manner He loved' — pointing to the cross as the proof, not just the feeling. Gave (Gk. didomi) is action — love is verified by what it gives, not by what it feels.
God's love is not earned, and it is not abstract. It is proven by the giving of His Son. Christian identity rests not on the believer's performance but on the immovable fact of God's love demonstrated at the cross. This love precedes any of our action — God loved while we were still in rebellion.
If you struggle to believe you are loved, the cross is the answer. Love that costly cannot be undone by your worst day. Your identity as Loved is not a feeling — it is a fact, signed in blood.
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."Romans 8:37
Paul writes this near the climax of Romans 8, after listing every conceivable threat — trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, danger, sword. None of them, he declares, can defeat believers. In fact, in the midst of all of it, we are MORE than conquerors.
More than conquerors (Gk. hupernikao) is a single Greek word combining 'over' and 'conquer.' Some translate it 'super-conquerors' or 'hyper-victors.' Through him who loved us makes clear the source — the victory is not generated by our willpower but received through Christ.
Christian identity is victorious not because believers are strong but because Christ is. The hupernikao life is one in which trials do not just fail to destroy us — they are actually used by God to deepen us. We come out of every battle with more than we had going in.
You are not just a survivor. You are not just a conqueror. You are MORE than a conqueror — through Him. The labels of defeat and inadequacy cannot share space with the truth of hupernikao. Choose the Word over the wound.
Knowing who you are changes everything about how you live.
How has your thinking about yourself shifted over these four weeks, even slightly?
When you KNOW you are loved — you stop performing for approval. When you KNOW you are chosen — you stop competing with others. When you KNOW you are forgiven — you stop hiding in shame. When you KNOW you are enough — you stop shrinking to make others comfortable. Identity is not just a feeling. It is a FOUNDATION. Everything built on it will be stronger.
"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!"1 John 3:1
"We are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works."Ephesians 2:10
Write your Identity Declaration: 'I am [name]. I am not what happened to me. I am not what they called me. I am not my worst moment. I am who God says I am. I am _______, _______, and _______. And I will live like it.' Read it to the group.
Place your Identity Declaration somewhere you will see it every single day. Read it out loud every morning for 30 days. Invite one trusted person to hold you accountable to living it out.
Go Deeper
A condensed Bible study on every scripture used in this class
"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
John writes to believers facing pressure from a culture that does not understand them. He reorients their identity around their relationship with the Father. This verse reads less like a lecture and more like a wide-eyed declaration — John is still amazed by what he is saying.
See (Gk. idete) is an imperative — pay attention, behold. Lavished (Gk. didomi) literally means 'given' but the Greek construction implies extravagant, unrestrained giving. Children (Gk. tekna) emphasizes the parent-child relational bond. And that is what we are — added by John as if to underline that this is not poetic exaggeration. It is reality.
The believer's deepest identity is not their accomplishments, their failures, or their reputation — it is their adoption as children of God. This is not a metaphor. It is a legal, spiritual, and relational reality grounded in Christ.
Living from your true identity means waking up every day knowing who you are: a lavishly-loved child of the Father. This is the foundation that, once laid, every storm, every label, every accusation must contend with — and lose.
"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."Ephesians 2:10
Already studied in Course 1, Class 1. Paul writes this from prison to the church at Ephesus — a diverse city where many believers came from broken backgrounds. He has just finished establishing salvation by grace alone (vv. 8-9), then pivots to purpose in v. 10. We are saved not BY works, but FOR works that flow from our new identity.
Handiwork (Gk. poiema) — masterpiece, work of art. Same root as the English word 'poem.' We are not factory products; we are crafted. Prepared in advance (Gk. proetoimasen) — pre-arranged. The works were laid out for you, not the other way around.
Identity precedes activity. You do not become God's handiwork by doing good works; you do good works because you are God's handiwork. This reverses the world's order — performance does not produce identity; identity produces performance.
When you know you are God's poiema — His masterpiece — you stop performing for approval. You stop comparing. You stop shrinking. You begin to live FROM your identity, not FOR it.
SERIES 2
Life-Management
Stewarding what God has put in your hands.
From your wallet to your relationships, from your habits to your hardships — these five courses equip you to manage the practical reality of your life with biblical wisdom and the peace of God.
COURSES IN THIS SERIES
Course 6. The Resource Architect
Course 7. The Family Repair Shop
Course 8. The Parent's Blueprint
Course 9. The Stress-Test
Course 10. The Habit Lab
Next up: The Resource Architect — Course 6 of 15.
Start Course 6 → All 15 Courses