11 Jun 2026

Identity in Jesus

"Peter had to stay outside the gate. Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate, and she let Peter in. The woman asked Peter, “You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?” “No,” he said, “I am not.” ...

Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire warming himself, they asked him again, “You’re not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it, saying, “No, I am not.”

But one of the household slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?” Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed."

~ John 18.16-17,25-27 NLT

There are other ways to deny Jesus, some are subtler than others, but with similar effect. Peter feared something and the fear competed with his sense of identity in Jesus to the point that he denied his identity in Jesus.

At the workplace or in social circles, fear and ambition also compete with a Christian's sense of identity in Jesus. I do not want to look bad, so ... Or the only way I can get promotion is for me to ... This is a similar line of thought as Peter's before he denied Jesus three times.

Identity in Jesus is what others observe how my words and actions are consistent with what Jesus would do. When I choose not what Jesus would do, then I choose not to identify with Jesus.

Dear God
please help guard my identity in Jesus
so I do not deny him in word nor deed