Who We Are and Who We Are Becoming in Christ: A Year-End Reflection

Photo Credit: Benjamin Joyce

December 31, 2025

Dear Praying Friends,

As we look back on this past year, let’s pause to reflect on the work of Christ in our lives: how He has enabled us to live out our position in Him, affirmed our identity, and guided our growth.

While there is nothing magical about the clock ticking from December 31 to January 1, it is nonetheless a significant point on our calendars. It is a time for us to consider the work of God in our lives and the development of Christ in us.

Over the last few months of 2025, I have been practically living in Colossians 3, considering the work of God within us as believers. In the first 14 verses, Paul presents three overarching truths that have a profound impact on our spiritual development: our position in Christ, our identity in Christ, and our growth in Christ.

As the chapter opens, we learn about our position in Christ. In the first verse, Paul tells us that we are “raised with Christ” (Colossians 3:1 ESV). This brings us right back to Calvary, to His death, burial, and glorious resurrection. 

When we put our faith in Christ for salvation, we become inseparably linked with Him. To be raised with Christ means our spiritual condition is no longer dead in Adam, but rather miraculously united with Christ in His life. 

It is His life within that enables us to “put to death what is earthly in you,” and all of the ugly sins linked with the flesh (Colossians 3:5). It is also His life that enables us to “put on the new self,” and the beautiful qualities associated with our union with Christ (Colossians 3:10).

Do you appreciate your position in Jesus?

Secondly, we are told of our identity in Christ. Paul reminds us of who we are. He starts by saying that we have “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:10). We are image-bearers of the One who created us. 

We resemble and represent our Creator. 

In verse 12, Paul presents three significant words that describe who we really are to God: “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved.” We are chosen by God, which means that God, in His grace, personally selected us. While we did not deserve it, His grace has reached us, saved us, and brought us into His family.

We are made holy by God, meaning that God has set us apart for His purposes. No longer to be motivated by selfish ambition and desires, we are called by God to live in a way that pleases and honors Him.

We are beloved by God. 

This grounding truth settles us, even when our own hearts feel otherwise. Nothing we do or say can change the truth — we are deeply loved by God. 

Are you living in the good of your identity in Jesus?

Finally, we learn about our growth in Christ and how His character is developed in us. Paul says, “Put on…compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:12-14).

As we depend upon the Holy Spirit, the qualities of Christ will be reproduced within us. 

These are not qualities that we master by sheer willpower, but rather they are produced as we submit to the inner work of the Holy Spirit.

These qualities are not developed in a vacuum. It is through the experiences of life that God teaches us: in those times of trial and pain, in the crisis moments, in our home life, in our work life, and in our church life. 

Are you submitting to the growth process of God in your life?

As we look forward to 2026, may God give us a deeper understanding of truth and a greater longing to be more like Jesus. Thank you for praying for prodigals and for revival among us.

Love in Christ,

Bryan and Rachel