Secure in His Love. Embracing Your Priceless Worth and Identity in Christ.Air Date: Mar. 25, 2025

Beth Barlet (00:01)
Are you living life securing God’s love? Is your life deeply rooted in Christ? Today, I share the power that changes the trajectory of our lives when we embrace how God sees us. Let’s get to it. Salty begins right now.

Beth Barlet (00:42)
Welcome to Salted, where I help you uncover the transformative power to know and love Jesus in His fullness and stir up revival within your heart. Join me, Beth Barlett, as I come alongside you every week on the narrow path that draws us into a deeper relationship with Jesus. Get ready to be encouraged, empowered, ignited and equipped as we pursue authentic discipleship to influence the world for the Kingdom of God.

Beth Barlet (01:15)
Hey everyone. I’m so excited to kick off the very first official episode of our Salted podcast. It has been such a journey to get here and I am so full of anticipation of all that the Lord will do. man, it has been such a week trying to just sit down and record this episode from technical difficulties to distractions, to echoes with the actual recording.

and just finding the time to actually being able to sit down and be with all of you. But God is so good and so faithful and I’m just so excited what he has in store for us today. So let’s get to it. Let’s start this journey full force ahead as I talk today about such an important topic in the lives of Christian women, embracing the fullness of our identity in Jesus.

and the power that it has over our walk of faith. But also, I will talk about how we can overcome when we have misplaced or misappropriated our identity by believing the lies of Satan instead of the truth of God’s word. Embracing our identity in Christ is pivotal in the understanding of our Christian walk and such a huge foundation for our faith. However, it is not only

just the foundation of our true self-worth and value, but it also when fully embraced helps us to fulfill our calling by knowing our authority and our purpose within the Kingdom of God. In my own walk, finally discovering who I really was in Jesus was what changed the trajectory of my life. Before I truly embraced who I was as a chosen and fully loved child of God, I relied only on the temporary things of this world to define me. And in essence,

all the things that would pretty much ultimately fail me. Not knowing to whom I belonged and where my true worth and value came, my life was dissatisfied and disillusioned. It wasn’t until I embraced my full identity as a daughter of the Most High God, who loved me so much that he gave his son to die for me, that I found the security, peace, joy, and blessed assurance I longed for.

You know, there is something about not just knowing our identity, but fully embracing our identity in Christ for our own. When we as women don’t embrace our fullness of our identity in Jesus, we can become stuck or stagnant in our walk. And perhaps that is you today, where you are feeling stuck in your walk or possibly even dry and lukewarm. Many times it’s because we have become so accustomed to this world that we fail or forget to set our eyes on things above.

never fully understanding or seeing the fullness of life and the treasures of eternal heaven and the amazing direct access we have to our Creator as daughters and heirs within God’s kingdom. We tend to look at the scarcity of things versus the abundance found within the kingdom of God. Usually we look with eyes where our earthly identities supersede our heavenly ones and many times when we don’t know our identity in Jesus

We tend to lack the full knowledge of our authority, our position, our privilege and responsibility as authentic followers of Jesus. We believe the lies of the enemy and are hindered in fulfilling all that God calls of us because we never have revelation of all that is available to us and through us through our faith in Jesus.

You know, everyone on this planet is searching for their identity. Whether a believer or not, there is so much emphasis in this world that is placed on titles, positions, and labels because it breeds purpose and places inherent value on people’s lives. Identity, both in the natural and the spiritual, has the power to affect our lifestyle choices, who we choose to surround ourselves with, and the mindsets and thought patterns we choose to live by.

For the better or worse, can change the course of our destiny by influencing the choices we make and can determine the trajectory of our lives Knowing our identity is a priority in our walk with God.

As we embrace our identities in Christ, shapes our perspective, how we view the world, how we react to the people placed around us, and most importantly, it’s how we see and approach God. It affects how we approach God’s throne room, and it changes the fervency of our prayer life. It also affects the intimacy with the Holy Spirit and whether or not we are rooted in faith during trial.

Knowing that our names are written in the palm of God’s hand, that His plans are to prosper us and give us a hope and a future has the power each day to help us live in peace over fear, joy over sorrow, and it exhorts us to choose a life of freedom that we possess when we give our lives fully over to Jesus from one of sin and death.

choosing to embrace our identity as God’s daughters build our faith and fuels our boldness within the kingdom of God.

The fact that we’re doing a podcast episode on identity is just crazy because identity has been such a pivotal aspect of my faith journey And it all started from the time when I was five months old when I was adopted from South Korea into the arms of two wonderful, amazing parents here in the United States.

I came over on a plane and landed in JFK airport and moved the time I was two years old from New York all the way to rural Pennsylvania, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. And although my childhood was super sweet and my parents were so loving and I never felt less than or second than

or that I even was adopted because I was so loved by my grandparents and my parents and all my family and those around me. there was still always something that would just nag at my heart. The older that I had got as I moved from elementary to probably around middle school or high school, when we all go through those awkward stages where we just want to be like everyone else in order to fit in. And I remember

Obviously, I didn’t look like my parents, but for some reason when I was younger it never fazed me. started when I really started to see in appearance that I was different than anyone else, where I started to long to be like everyone around me. And I think that was when the enemies started to kind of get into my mind.

that I desperately in my tween years wanted to be like all the other girls in school, wanted to be like by boys and fit in. And in reality, in the school district that I was in, I pretty much was one of three Asian kids in like the whole school. And even though it felt like my friends never made me feel any different and I never…

felt rejected. I still feel deep inside that I struggled to be like everyone else around me and because I wasn’t, there was something that felt empty or missing inside of me. And it’s so crazy because growing up my mom was so awesome about wanting me to be in touch with my heritage and my culture. And she would even bring me to these Korean culture camps.

when I was younger where I’d get to know the food and the art and all that other crazy stuff and be around other adopted Korean kids. And it sounds great from a mom’s perspective, but to be honest with you, I secretly hated it. And not that there’s anything wrong with the Korean culture, but because it was always a reminder to me that I was different and that I was adopted quote unquote.

that I was that I had a walk through this different type of journey than everyone else and it just it just yeah it was just a reminder that I was different and again it irked me mom I love you to death but yes it irked me and it really even made my identity journey that much more difficult and

You know.

I think for a long time I actually suppressed this part of my identity in my heart. And don’t we all struggle with wanting to be like someone else instead of who God has created us to be. I think I’ve talked to so many people that struggle with their identity based on what was done to them in the past or what they look like or where they came from when, you know, God has set us apart to be different.

that we weren’t meant to blend in, but to be separate from everyone else. And maybe this was just what God needed me to walk through to show me ultimately, my calling and destiny in the kingdom that I would ultimately be set apart and different from all those around me for his glory and for his kingdom. But anyway, growing up in church, even though I went to Sunday school in church every week,

God wasn’t something we talked about during the week and I really didn’t know about God’s Word or who I was in Jesus at all growing up. I really didn’t even have an understanding of Jesus’ love for me because I didn’t know the truth of God’s Word at that time. So my worth and value became attached to what others thought about me, about who approved of me, what I looked like, and what I accomplished compared to the things of the world.

And my identity was misplaced in performance, the approval of others, and all things that I could do instead of placing it in a trustworthy God who wouldn’t ever fail me. And you know, this led to striving, perfectionism, and allowed the spirit of rejection to sometimes dominate my life. And the enemy actually used it to tempt me through sinful actions, especially in my teenage years, to fill my need to be wanted, accepted.

loved, leading me to a stage of partying and drunkenness and promiscuity and all that kind of stuff, which then later on led to a further manifestation of a critical spirit and even times one of self-condemnation. And without knowing my identity in Jesus and how much the God of the universe loved me, my worth and identity was completely dependent upon false kingdom security that I myself

built my life upon, and I clung to idols that secured my identity, and value in the things of this world. And because my self-worth and value were dependent upon transient people and things, the spirit of rejection, the need to be accepted and wanted would allow and sometimes drive me to compromise my self-worth and value even more to get that false acceptance that I longed for. If I had known my priceless value in Jesus,

and revelation of how much I was valued by God and my identity was secure in Him, I know that I would have the armor of God’s truth to resist the enemy and not be deceived into compromising my convictions.

It was when I found and embraced my faith and my identity in Jesus that I finally was secure in myself about who God made me to be and fully satisfied and secure in His love and what His Word said about me. Knowing who I was and whose I was gave me purpose and direction in my life with a sole desire to know God, to love God, and to tell others about God.

serving him, worshiping him, and bringing him glory each day as I grew in grace for all that he’s done for me. it was one of the major things in my life that got me through seasons of trial in the wilderness believing not only who God says that he is but who God says that I am.

and his love for me.

Sometime or another my friend, I know you have struggled with your identity Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever misplaced your worth in accordance with the standards of this world? What other people have said about you versus what God says? Every day we need to overcome the lies of our feelings and the lies of Satan

We must remember our worth and value do not come from the fleeting things of this world, but in Jesus we must embrace in our hearts that God loved us so much that he sent his one and only Son for us, that through his precious blood shed for us on the cross that we would be with him for all eternity, and that we would know how much he wanted, accepted, and loved us despite our sin and brokenness, and that he forever pursues us, loves us, forgives us, redeems us.

And when we understand this, our eyes become open in faith to these truths and our heavenly identities begin to supersede our earthly ones.

You know, identity has been interwoven throughout the Bible and throughout both the Old and New Testaments, Scripture reveals the emphasis that God places on identity and how powerful the prophetic changing of one’s name can forever alter the course and directive of one’s life for the Kingdom of Heaven. In Scripture, God gave new names to show their value and worth, but also to propel their faith into what God had called them and assigned them for their destinies.

Despite their weakness, faults, and circumstances, it was when individuals were given new names by God that they were charged in faith and exhorted to embark into their God-given heavenly exploits. God changed Abraham’s name from Abram, Sarah’s name from Sarai, Israel’s name from Jacob, and Peter’s name from Simon in order to prophesy and reveal the divine plan that would unfold within the course of their lives.

By changing their name and giving them a new identity, it fueled the flame of faith inside of them that was needed to trust God and fulfill the impossible heavenly things called them on this earth. When Jesus reveals to disciples their identity as the salt of the earth on the Sermon on the Mount, he declares over them their heavenly purpose and prophetically who they would become within the Kingdom of God. In one sentence, he declares over them how they are to live set apart in but not of the world.

those who seek first His Kingdom living in purity, holiness, righteousness, and selfless love. Disciples who would live paradoxically to the ways of this world. It is when we align ourselves through our thoughts and our behaviors with our new identity in Christ that we will walk in a manner worthy of the high standards God requires of us as disciples and citizens of His Kingdom. It frames our perspective, thoughts, and behavior.

and embracing our identity helps preserve the potency of our saltiness as influencers for God’s kingdom. Because when we see ourselves by who God says we are, as well as embrace who He intends us to be, it powerfully changes our priorities and the ways in which we live. We can only know what we are called to when we come to the realization of who we are and whose we are in this life. Knowing our identity keeps us on track with our God-given destinies

as we seek wholeheartedly to stay within the perfect world of our Creator. It changes the way we treat others, the way we date, the way we raise our children, the way we make business decisions in the workplace and how we speak. And it allows us to live our lives from a place of blessed assurance, peace and security.

It’s a weapon against fear of man, people pleasing and insecurity that silences our generation and hinders us in fear. It’s what roots us in faith when our emotions and feelings try to lead us astray.

it. has the power to bring us into the spiritual maturity and the whole heartedness towards God needed to persevere us as we run the race of faith on the narrow path that leads to life.

Knowing and embracing our identity in Jesus gives us the boldness to walk in blessed assurance and our God-given authority which breeds within us our responsibility and purpose to move mountains, raise the dead, and heal the sick as we bring heaven to earth and give glory to God.

So what does God’s Word say about who we are? I think two of the best scriptures to constantly meditate and renew our minds upon are Ephesians 2.10 and 1 Peter 2.9. Ephesians 2.10 states,

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit.” Ephesians 2 10. And also, we are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, so that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into the wonderful light. 1 Peter 2 9.

Unfortunately, instead of embracing these truths in God’s Word,

We are women sometimes deceived into believing identity and value come from what we look like, what cars we drive, what mistakes we’ve made, attention from men, what people have said about us, how we’ve been treated, how much money we have, how many likes we have on social media, whether people have said about us, have labeled us, has judged us, our failures, our mistakes, our shortcomings, things that people have done to us, et cetera, et The list goes on.

Women in this era have not embraced their adoption nor Heavenly Father’s love. They are still living with orphan mentalities, unwilling to let God love them and instead do works to make him love them.

We must guard ourselves against the spirit of comparison, lies of the enemy, and expectations of this world that make us feel that we are never enough.

Satan will make us question the truth of God’s word about our identity and value in God’s eyes, as well as his character, his goodness, and love towards us just as he did in the Garden of Eden. Why? Because he is scared of a child of God rooted and anchored in her authority and God’s power.

He tries to deceive us into wanting to blend in our entire lives when we are intended and set apart by God to stand out. He tries to keep us silenced when we are made to speak out.

As I was compiling this episode, the Lord reminded me of a vision he gave me a while back about Simba the Lion King from the Disney movie, if you know from a while back, as an analogy to give me a deeper insight and understanding about how the enemy tries to work in us and how instead we need to be on the offensive and respond. I don’t know about you, but if you remember the movie from our childhood, Simba was cast out into the jungle and hiding.

because of a deceptive lie from his uncle Scar that it was his fault that his father Mufasa, the king of the kingdom at that time, who had died and that his family would no longer love or accept him because of his mistake. Trying to take over the kingdom, Scar caused Simba through lies to question his role position, his call, his destiny, the love of his family.

So he journeys and pushes him out into the wilderness and jungle where for years he hides in rebellion as he shies away from who he truly was at his real position. He runs away from his true calling out of fear and belief of the lies embedded in him from Scar when he was a child.

It wasn’t until a voice of truth, his father Mufasa in heaven, told him to remember who he was and his royal bloodline that he realized the truth of his calling and destiny. He finally returns home, finding his land full of darkness. But as he takes his rightful position on the throne, he defeats the enemy and his roar restores life and light to the land. Now does this narrative sound weirdly familiar?

about what happens to us when we believe the lies of the darkness and of an enemy.

Like Scar, Satan is attempting to destroy and derail our calling and steal the fullness of our life found in Jesus through the spirit of rejection. Attacking the very person we are, making us believe the lie that we aren’t loved, wanted, accepted, but instead rejected.

And like Simba, we need to remember who we are and the role position bought for us through the blood of Christ. That no matter our past, have been brought near to God, adopted, redeemed, restored, forgiven, and saved as daughters, princesses of the Most High God, who have been given the authority of heaven and the power of God living inside of us. Lionesses whose roar has the power to push back darkness and co-labor with the Holy Spirit to restore God’s kingdom in this land.

and to remember Ephesians 3.29 that to know the love of Christ is to have the fullness of God. And I believe more than ever the Lord wants us to remember who we are, whose we are, for such a time as this as he has positioned us to live a life no longer wandering in the jungle that we must walk out of our caves in order to take hold of our positions with Jesus on the rock in which we stand to push back darkness for his kingdom.

Satan schemes because he understands the power of identity and the power of one’s name. As we can witness through the lion comes Simba. There is power in our words that can either unintentionally curse or speak blessing over our lives. Negative labels, negative words spoken over us by others can actually block the life-giving truth of God’s word from being received in our hearts.

and hinder us from walking in the fullness of life available through Christ Jesus fulfilling the calling He has placed upon our lives. We all have had someone speak negative words over us, but it is time to come out of agreement with those lies. Perhaps you are needing to overcome a negative name or trait spoken over you that has tried to hinder you or hold you back from living fully in the blessed assurance of who God made you to be.

It is so important that we need to remove negative words spoken over us by one another by allowing his words and truth and life to flow freely about who we are created to be in Jesus. Remembering in Revelation 22, for as children of God, we will see God’s face and his name will be written on our foreheads that we are completely his.

However, we must walk in the offensive with the belt of truth around our waist and guard this identity bought for us because when we lose our identity, it leads to greater insecurity within our hearts as women within the body of Christ. We were even commanded from the time of the Garden of Eden to guard intimacy with the Lord. In Genesis 2, 8, it reads,

and the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and guard and keep it. Many times in scripture, the Garden of Eden doesn’t just represent the actual garden, but symbolizes the fullness of life and God’s precious design and intent for mankind to know him, love him, and walk in the joy and satisfaction that can only come from him. So we are called to tend, guard, and keep our relationship with the Lord.

Guard all that He’s given us, which means guarding who we are and the belief of whose we are in Christ Jesus. We are not only to guard it, but also to tend it and keep it. And the more we grow and cultivate our intimacy with God, the more we able to receive and embrace our God given identity. When we lose our identity to things of this world, it makes us lose sight of our precious worth and value, which leads us to make bad decisions apart from God.

leading us to cling to temporary worldly things and people that try to falsely increase our worth or that ultimately tempts us into habitual sin, idolatry, etc. Additionally, insecurity has led to an increase in propensity for the fear and approval of man and because of our desperate cry as women for continual acceptance and people-pleasing and our need to fit in with the crowd, it has weakened our ability to hold fast to truth

and stand firm in our convictions. Subsequently, our voices of influence are silenced and by not speaking up against diluted and perverted teachings of the gospel, we lose our influence. All right, so you’re saying, okay, Beth, so how? So how do we guard our identity? First, I believe we must value our identity.

that we must value our souls, value and prioritize eternity over everything else and realize the importance and priceless value of seeing ourselves as we are in the eyes of God and our heavenly inheritance. Embracing our identity is embracing the truth of the gospel. God so loved us, he gave his one and only son who suffered and died for us and desperately loved us so much that he wants us to be with him forever and eternity.

that he fights for us and pursues us and why satan is after us. We must understand the gravity of hell and our eternal destination, but we can truly value our identity in Jesus and what was bought for us on the cross. Additionally, it’s so important that we must continually renew our minds. A narrative in our minds must be completely directed by the Holy Spirit and God’s word.

We must choose to believe and stand firm in God’s truth versus what the lies of the enemy and the world says that we are. Also, as new creations in Christ, it’s imperative that we leave behind our old ways of thinking and worldly thought patterns before we came to Jesus and make an intentional effort to break old strongholds of thinking, taking every thought captive that tries to come against the knowledge of God and attempts to seal the truth of our true identity in Jesus.

We are told in 2 Corinthians 10-5 and Philippians 4-8 to fix our thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. To think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Bible tells us that we are given a new identity and eventually a new name in Christ, Revelation 3-12. This identity is not based on what we have done, but what God has done for us.

through his loving kindness, mercy and grace. We must continually meditate, underline, reread over and over again, verses such as Ephesians one and two, so that it can become so rooted in our minds that when we are feeling emotions of doubt, fear, abandonment, we can anchor ourselves in God’s truth about who we are.

and who he assesses us to be.

Who are we in Jesus? We are chosen, predestined, accepted, adopted, daughters, loved by the God of the universe, saved by grace, citizens of heaven, members of God’s household, God’s special possession, those seated with Christ in heavenly places, God’s handiwork, created for good works, prepared by God for us to do before the beginning of time.

Fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image his marvelous workmanship and his masterpiece Our identity as God’s children is defined by the presence of the Holy Spirit as we worship and continually offer ourselves as living sacrifices and He testifies to us who we are and we must stand in agreement and listen

Sister, no matter how many wrong identities we have taken that have been forced upon us, we have the power to remove them and put on our true identities in Christ through the blood of Jesus. Reminder, it’s not what someone else has said about you or your failures in the past. It’s what God believes and says about you and what his word says about you.

This generation is counting on you to rise up and fulfill all God has called you to be. And it starts with embracing your identity. I pray for listeners listening to this episode that you would tear down false identities, negative words and labels spoken over you and replace them with life-giving truth.

This week I pray that you would challenge yourself to see yourself as God sees you, believing that I am who God says that I am. And that you would meditate once again on the cross and ask God to show and reveal to you your true worth and value bought for by the blood of Jesus. And that you would focus on your God given identity versus labels from others, failures, or identities associated with materials of this world.

Declare over yourself today who God and his word says that you are. I pray today that today was a reminder to your heart on how loved you are, how wanted you are, and how accepted you are in Christ Jesus.

And that rooted in your identity, you are rooted in your full authority in Christ and are full of the power of God.

that erased Jesus from the dead and that nothing can stop you. You are fully chosen, fully loved, created for a purpose for such a time as this. I pray that you would all be blessed this week.

See you here next time.

Beth Barlet (32:47)
I pray this episode has blessed you today. I appreciate our time together and I hope our conversation has deepened your faith. Don’t forget to check out today’s show notes for episode links and additional information. Be sure to share this podcast with a friend, review it, and hit subscribe so you don’t miss one episode. Go to my website www.thesaltedpodcast.com and subscribe to my newsletter to be part of our Salted community. Remember,

Being salted takes intentionality. See you here next time.