Harbor Stop 15: Who Am I in Christ?

Today we arrive at Harbor Stop 15: Who Am I in Christ?

Today's Scripture: Ephesians 2:10 NKJV “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

You are not an accident, a failure, or the sum of your past. In Christ, you are God’s workmanship, created with purpose.

🏠 Safe Harbor Awaits

There are many voices willing to tell us who we are. Our past speaks. Failure speaks. Rejection speaks. Shame speaks. Other people may even place labels on us that we begin carrying as though they were true.

But Scripture gives the believer a different identity. Paul says, “We are His workmanship.” That means your identity does not begin with what you have done. It begins with what God is doing in you.

You may still carry scars from earlier voyages, but scars are not your identity. You may remember decisions you regret, but those decisions do not have the authority to determine your future.

In Christ, you belong to the One who created you, redeemed you, and is still shaping your life.

⚓ Drop Anchor

Before asking what God wants you to do, pause and remember who you belong to.

Pause and Pray Father, quiet every voice that has tried to define me apart from You. Help me see myself through the truth of Your Word. Show me what it means to be Your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for Your purpose. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

🧭 Check Your Bearings

Identity determines direction. Ephesians 2:10 begins with a simple but powerful statement: “We are His workmanship.”

You are not self-made. You are His!

Your failures may be part of your story, but they are not your identity. Your accomplishments do not define you either. Your worth is not determined by what others think of you or by how successful you appear. Your identity is rooted in the One who made you.

Paul continues, “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” God does not only save us from something. He saves us for something. He is shaping our lives so that we can walk in the purpose He has prepared. Your past may still call your name, but God’s Word points you toward who you are becoming in Christ.

📖 Voices from the Harbor

When Your Past Keeps Trying to Introduce You: Paul

Paul knew what it was like to have a past that could have followed him everywhere.

Before Christ, Saul persecuted believers and tried to destroy the church. People had reasons to fear him. His history was not imagined, exaggerated, or easily forgotten.

Then grace interrupted his story.

Paul later wrote: “By the grace of God I am what I am.”~ 1 Corinthians 15:10

Notice what Paul did not say.

He did not say, My past did not matter.

He did not pretend the damage had never happened.

He simply refused to let his worst chapter become his permanent name.

That is where many of us struggle.

We know God has forgiven us, yet we continue introducing ourselves internally by what we used to be.

The one who failed.

The one who walked away.

The one who ruined it.

The one who should have known better.

Paul’s story reminds us that grace does more than forgive where we have been. Grace begins redirecting where we are going.

The persecutor became a preacher. The man who once fought against the church became one of its greatest messengers.

Your past may explain where grace found you, but it does not get to decide what God can still do with your life.

When You Cannot See What God Sees: Gideon

Sometimes the problem is not our past.

Sometimes it is the way we see ourselves right now.

When the Angel of the LORD came to Gideon in Judges 6, Gideon was hiding from the Midianites. He did not feel brave, strong, qualified, or important.

Yet God addressed him: “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!”~ Judges 6:12

Gideon’s response sounds surprisingly familiar. He immediately pointed to his circumstances, his family, and his own insignificance.

In other words: You must have the wrong person.

How often do we do the same?

God opens a door and we think, I am not capable.

God calls us to step forward and we think, Someone else would be better.

God begins working in us and we keep measuring ourselves by weakness, insecurity, education, age, background, personality, or past failure.

Gideon saw everything he lacked. God saw what He could accomplish through a surrendered man.

Ephesians 2:10 does not say we are our own workmanship. We are His workmanship.

The Craftsman sees more than the unfinished piece can see.

You may be looking at who you are right now while God is already working toward who you are becoming.

When Success and Failure Both Try to Name You: Darryl Strawberry

Not every false identity comes from failure. Sometimes success can name us too.

Darryl Strawberry became one of professional baseball’s most recognizable players. His talent brought fame, championships, attention, and achievement.

From the outside, it looked like he had everything. But success did not protect him from brokenness. His life became marked by addiction, damaged relationships, legal trouble, and painful seasons of collapse.

For a time, Strawberry could have been defined by either extreme.

The star athlete.

Or later:

The man who threw it all away.

Neither identity told the whole story.

Through surrender to Christ, his life began moving in another direction. Today, he uses his story to speak about redemption, restoration, and hope in Jesus.

That matters because many of us live somewhere between those same two pressures. We want our accomplishments to prove who we are. Then when we fail, we assume our failures reveal who we really are. But Ephesians 2:10 points us somewhere else. Your identity is not secured by your best season. It is not destroyed by your worst one.

You are God’s workmanship.

He is still shaping, correcting, restoring, and redirecting the life placed in His hands.

You are more than what you achieved, and you are more than what you lost. In Christ, neither success nor failure gets the final word.

What These Voices Are Saying to Us

Paul says: Your past does not get to keep naming you.

Gideon says: Your weakness does not determine what God can do through you.

Darryl Strawberry says: Your success and your failure are both poor substitutes for an identity rooted in Christ.

Ephesians 2:10 brings all three stories back to one truth: “For we are His workmanship…”

• You may see mistakes.

• You may see unfinished places.

• You may see years you wish you could redo.

• You may see limitations that make you question whether God could really use you.

But the workmanship does not belong to you. It belongs to the Craftsman. God is not asking you to invent a better identity. He is asking you to trust Him enough to let Him shape your life.

You may not yet see everything God is forming in you, but the One doing the work already knows what He created you for.

⛵ Adjust Your Sails

If you belong to Christ, begin learning to see yourself the way Scripture describes you.

– I am God’s workmanship. ~Ephesians 2:10

– I am created in Christ Jesus for purpose. ~Ephesians 2:10

– I am forgiven and redeemed. ~Colossians 1:13 to 14

– I am adopted into God’s family. ~Ephesians 1:5

– I am no longer condemned. ~Romans 8:1

Do not adjust your sails according to who you used to be.

Let God’s Word teach you to live from who you are in Christ.

🌅 Harbor Reflections

Take a few moments and ask yourself:

– What labels have I allowed to define me?

– Do I see myself more through my past or through God’s Word?

– Where can I see God’s workmanship in my life already?

– What might God still be shaping in me?

– Am I willing to walk in the purpose He has prepared for me?

You are not a finished product.

God is still working.

🧹 Maintain the Deck

God’s workmanship continues as we allow Him to remove what no longer belongs. Old habits, old thinking, old labels, and old patterns can still collect on the deck of our hearts.

Pay attention this week to how you speak about yourself. When you catch yourself saying:

– I will never change.

– I always mess things up.

– God cannot use someone like me.

Stop and ask: Does this agree with what God says about His workmanship? Replace the old label with truth. God is still working in me.

🙏 Cast Your Cares

Perhaps you struggle to believe that God could still have purpose for your life. Bring that fear to Him.

– If you regret years that cannot be recovered, bring them to Him.

– If someone else’s words have become your identity, bring them to Him.

– If failure has convinced you that God cannot use you, bring that belief to Him.

You are not asking God to create value in you. You are learning to recognize the value He has already placed upon a life that belongs to Him.

🗺️ Plot Your Course

This week, write Ephesians 2:10 somewhere you will see it often.

Then write these three statements underneath it:

– I am His workmanship.

– I am created in Christ Jesus.

– I am created for His purpose.

Read them each morning.

When an old label surfaces, return to the Compass. You do not have to navigate according to who you were. God is still shaping who you are becoming.

🛟 Your First Step Home

Before you can discover your purpose in Christ, you must first come to Christ. Jesus invites you to turn from sin, trust Him, and receive the new life only He can give.

If you are ready to place your faith in Jesus, you can pray:

Lord Jesus,

I know that I have sinned and need Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose again. I turn from my old life and place my faith in You. Forgive me, save me, and make me new. Help me become the person You created me to be and walk in the purpose You have prepared for my life.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Your past may explain where you have been. But in Christ, God is still shaping where you are going.

If you prayed this prayer sincerely, your first step home is not the end of the journey - it is the beginning of a new life with Jesus. Keep your eyes on Him, your Lighthouse, and let His Word become the Compass that guides your way. Begin spending time with Jesus each day; read your Bible, talk with Him in prayer, and take time to listen as the Holy Spirit helps you understand His Word and follow His leading.

Find a Bible-believing church where you can grow in your faith, worship with other believers, serve God with the gifts He has given you, and walk alongside others who are following Jesus. You were never meant to make this journey alone.

Until Our Next Harbor Stop…

──────────── ⚓ ────────────

The harbor is always open.