I Didn’t Lose Myself—Christ Found Me

Scripture Focus: Colossians 3:3–4
Devotional Inspired by: In Christ by E. Stanley Jones
Image Credit: Unsplash

In In Christ, E. Stanley Jones expresses the believer’s identification with Christ by writing, “I lose my personality by a voluntary identification with Him at His lowest place—the cross.” While he likely meant to emphasize full surrender and union, from the exchanged life perspective, it’s not accurate to say we lose our personality. Instead, we are restored in the deepest sense.

Before we ever believed, God already loved us. He saw us individually and moved toward us in mercy—not because we were hidden in Christ, but because we were valuable to Him even in our fallenness. Now, as those who are in Christ, we no longer approach God as enemies but as children, brought near through the indwelling life of His Son. We don’t disappear into Christ; we come alive in Him. Our personhood isn’t eliminated—it’s embraced, transformed, and enlivened by the Spirit.

We are not masks Jesus wears—we are vessels He fills. And the personality we once used to express the self-life is now a redeemed canvas through which Christ expresses His life uniquely, creatively, joyfully. He did not rescue us to erase us. He rescued us to walk with us in restored fellowship—just as He always intended.

Personalized Journal Entry in the Holy Spirit’s Voice Through Scripture

I saw you long before you saw Me. While you were still far off, still tangled in sin, still opposed to My ways, I loved you. My love did not wait for your response; it moved toward you when you could not move toward Me. I gave My Son not because you were hidden in Him, but because you were dear to Me even in your brokenness.

You were not invisible to Me. You were not a stranger to My heart. I loved you—the one I made, the one I pursued, the one I drew to Myself. Now, in Christ, you are not loved more. You are simply able to receive and enjoy the love that was always yours.

You are not merely tolerated because I see Christ in you—I see you in Christ. I see your personality, your uniqueness, your very being, and I delight in what I’ve redeemed. I didn’t discard who you were; I restored you to who you were always meant to be.

My love is not a filtered affection. It is a full embrace. You are not hidden behind Christ as if I cannot bear to look at you. Rather, Christ in you has opened the way for you to walk with Me face to face. Our communion is real, because My love for you is real.

You are My child—not just by position, but by affection. You are not a blank canvas. You are My masterpiece. And in Christ, that masterpiece has come alive.

Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:4–5,10; 1 John 4:9–10; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3–4

Prayer of Confident Trust

Father, thank You for loving me even when I was far from You. Thank You that Your love was not hesitant, not conditional, and not impersonal. You saw me in all my brokenness and chose to draw near. Now, in Christ, I can finally walk in the joy of that love without fear or shame.

I trust that You haven’t erased me. You’ve redeemed me. The personality You gave me is now animated by Your Spirit and aligned with Your purposes. I no longer strive to be someone else—I rest in the truth that You enjoy walking with the real me, made alive in Christ.

Amen.