RELEASED: Living From Our True Identity, Part 10
SCRIPTURE
“Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” - Luke 17:17 (NIV)
MEDITATION
Recently I joined a Discovery Bible Study (DBS) at a women’s recovery center. We were reading Luke 17:11–19, where Jesus heals ten people with leprosy, and we noticed that all ten were healed, but only one came back to Jesus to thank him, praise God, and fall at his feet.
In our DBS, we asked, “What does this passage say about people?” One woman shared something that stayed with me. She said, “I wonder if the other nine had identified with being sick for so long that they didn’t know how—or didn’t even think—to come back and interact with Jesus again, even to thank him.”
I had always read this story as mainly about gratitude. Her insight opened another layer for me. When we live for years with a certain label—“sick,” “addict,” “failure,” “outsider”—that identity can go so deep that even when Jesus begins to heal us, we may not know how to relate to him or live in a new way. The nine may have walked away healed in their bodies, but still seeing themselves primarily as “the sick ones,” not as beloved, cleansed people invited into a relationship with Jesus.
As I listened to this woman’s insight, I started to ask some honest questions about my own life. Over the years, Jesus has healed and changed me in many ways. But I realized I did not always stop to come back to him—to talk with him, to thank him, and to notice what his power had done. Many days I still see myself as “the wounded one who was healed,” instead of living as the woman in Christ he says I am—his beloved, redeemed, united with him, filled with his Spirit, and given a new name.
But that is exactly what it looks like to live a catalytic life from our identity in Christ. By that, I mean to live in such a way that our own healing accelerates the healing of others. At Catalyst Camp (a leadership development track Novo facilitates), it’s emphasized that catalytic fruit flows less from what a leader does and more from who that leader is becoming. Identity, hearing God daily, listening, humility, and obedience are core postures.
As our identity shifts from “the sick one” or “the exhausted leader” to God’s beloved child, we are drawn to hear from the Lord daily—moment by moment—and to respond with simple steps of obedience.
Identity in Christ means more than being someone Jesus once helped. It means letting our deepest sense of self be rooted in him every day. As we keep returning to Jesus in gratitude, our hearts and habits begin to reflect his character, and that creates catalytic behavior in our lives.
When we lead and serve from that place, our lives become an invitation that blesses and unlocks others to step into their own identity as beloved sons and daughters who keep coming back to Jesus too.
REFLECTION
Where might you still be living from an old identity—even in how you serve others?
Name one way Jesus has healed or sustained you. Turn to him in simple gratitude, and ask, “Jesus, who do you say I am today?”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jackie Maker lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, with her husband, Mike. She serves on Novo’s Global Partner Lead Team as a Partner Development Facilitator and loves coaching leaders and coming alongside others toward gospel movements. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, refinishing old furniture and “junk,” and savoring a good cup of coffee. Jackie is a proud “Graunite” (Gramma + Auntie) who treasures family and the everyday joys that make life meaningful.