“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:14-16)
Our identity is found in Christ, who says, “I have come to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18). God is the giver and sustainer of life … and He wants you to know His great love!
Bible Verses On Identity And Purpose
The Bible is full of verses about identity and purpose. Here are some of our favorites.
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:2
“You are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.” – Psalm 17:14
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10)
Romans 8:28: We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Psalm 139:14-17: I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. You knew my [unformed] frame; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 103:13-14: As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”
Romans 11:34-36: “For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” Ephesians 1:3-5: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
- “As I reflect on the past, I realize that all my life has been one long effort to find myself and to be myself and to do the things I wanted to do. This process has been difficult because of the many illusions I have had about who I was and what was important to me.”
-Barbara De Angelis
- “Here’s a good rule of thumb: If you
- Psalm 139:14
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
- Psalm 42:5
“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and Lord.”
- Matthew 5:48
Bible Verses About Identity In Christ
God has given us a new identity in Christ. As we put our faith in his Son, it is not just something that happens on the inside. The transformation spreads outwards as God changes our life story to resemble what Jesus accomplished on the cross (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).
“‘Be perfect,’ [Jesus] said.”
Identity and purpose are two of the most important themes in the Bible.
In Genesis, God creates human beings with their own identities and purposes. He gives them a task to do, but also allows them to choose how they’ll do it. It’s up to us whether we’ll accept our identity and purpose, or whether we’ll reject it and pursue other things.
In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus tells us that if we choose to follow him, he will give us true security in our identity and purpose—but if we choose not to follow him, then there is no way that he can keep us safe from ourselves.
In John 15:7-9 Jesus tells us that when we are connected with him through faith in his teachings and example, then our lives will be fully realized because they’re aligned with God’s will.
“I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me; I am God, and there is no other.” -Isaiah 45:5 (NIV)
Psalm 16:5 “The LORD knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance will endure forever.”
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Colossians 1:27 “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
John 8:12 “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.'”
- “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” -John 10:10
- “The LORD said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.'” -Psalm 110:1
- “For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” -1 Corinthians 2:11
- “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” -Ephesians 2:10
Bible Verses About Identity And Worth
There are many Bible verses that explain identity. They talk about who you are and why you should give God glory. Get inspired with scriptures on identity and help strengthen your faith in God!
The Bible is full of verses about our identity in Christ. Discover 10 of the most popular Bible verses about identity and find out how to apply each one to your daily life.
Genesis 1:27 ESV / 665 helpful votes
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV / 497 helpful votes
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
1 Peter 2:9 ESV / 436 helpful votes
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Jeremiah 1:5 ESV / 394 helpful votes
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Galatians 2:20 ESV / 373 helpful votes
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV / 334 helpful votes
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Ephesians 2:10 ESV / 322 helpful votes
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
1 Corinthians 12:27 ESV / 303 helpful votes
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
John 15:15 ESV / 265 helpful votes
No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
1 John 3:1-3 ESV / 251 helpful votes
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV / 242 helpful votes
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Colossians 3:1-4 ESV / 215 helpful votes
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Ephesians 4:22-24 ESV / 184 helpful votes
To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Galatians 3:27-29 ESV / 180 helpful votes
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Psalm 139:14 ESV / 175 helpful votes
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
John 15:5 ESV / 171 helpful votes
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 1:12 ESV / 168 helpful votes
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
Luke 9:23-27 ESV / 157 helpful votes
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
Isaiah 43:1 ESV / 151 helpful votes
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
Romans 8:14-15 ESV / 132 helpful votes
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Genesis 2:7 ESV / 127 helpful votes
Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Romans 8:1 ESV / 105 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 4:24 ESV / 103 helpful votes
And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Bible Verses About Who We Are
Identity is a topic that expresses who we are and how we see ourselves. The Bible has a lot to say about identity, especially how God sees us and what he’s called us to do. Here are some of the most impactful passages about identity from Scripture.
All of us have a unique identity. It’s how God sees us, and how we see ourselves. He made each one of us and knows what we need and what we can do. When you know who you are and why you are here, it helps you to live daily with purpose and strength—just like David did.
Colossians 3:3 ESV / 101 helpful votes
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Ephesians 2:6 ESV / 98 helpful votes
And raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Ephesians 1:4 ESV / 97 helpful votes
Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
Psalm 139:1-24 ESV / 97 helpful votes
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. …
Colossians 3:12 ESV / 96 helpful votes
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
Romans 6:6 ESV / 95 helpful votes
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Romans 8:17 ESV / 93 helpful votes
And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
1 Samuel 16:7 ESV / 89 helpful votes
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Galatians 3:26 ESV / 87 helpful votes
For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
John 15:16 ESV / 87 helpful votes
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
Psalm 100:3 ESV / 87 helpful votes
Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Philippians 3:20 ESV / 86 helpful votes
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Colossians 1:27 ESV / 78 helpful votes
To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Ephesians 2:19 ESV / 78 helpful votes
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
Romans 8:15 ESV / 76 helpful votes
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Isaiah 49:16 ESV / 76 helpful votes
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
John 3:16 ESV / 74 helpful votes
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Ephesians 1:7 ESV / 72 helpful votes
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
1 Corinthians 6:17 ESV / 72 helpful votes
But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
Colossians 2:10 ESV / 68 helpful votes
And you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
Jeremiah 13:23 ESV / 68 helpful votes
Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.
Ephesians 5:8 ESV / 64 helpful votes
For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
Ephesians 1:5 ESV / 63 helpful votes
He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
Colossians 2:9-10 ESV / 62 helpful votes
For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
Colossians 3:1-3 ESV / 61 helpful votes
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Romans 15:7 ESV / 61 helpful votes
Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
1 John 3:1-2 ESV / 58 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
