#14: Knowing Who You Are in Christ Is Non-Negotiable

You’re not second-guessing because you’re humble.
You’re second-guessing because you’re unstable.

In this episode, April Nova Scipio is continuing our Core Values series with a truth that anchors everything:

Knowing who you are in Christ is non-negotiable.

If your identity isn’t clear, your decisions won’t be either.
You’ll hesitate, overthink, and constantly question what God has already made known.

Identity shapes authority.
And when you know who God says you are, you move differently.

In this episode, she walks through:

•  Why identity must come before assignment 
•  How confidence flows from identity—not outcomes 
•  Why clarity in identity stabilizes your decisions 

This is about coming back to what’s already true—
 and building from a place of security, not striving.

You don’t have to become someone new.
You need to believe who you already are.

Faith First. Rhythm Always.

✨ Next Step:

If you’re ready to continue this journey with support and community, join the Nova Community—a faith-filled space for women learning to live with clarity, peace, and faith-first rhythms

👉 Learn more at https://thenovacompany.org

✨ Private Mentorship Community:

If you are interested in applying to join my private mentorship community, email me: april@thenovacompany.org

✨ novaRetreat: 3rd Annual Dream with God Retreat

A Spirit-led weekend for women ready to abide deeply, align intentionally, & courageously advance as God reveals what’s next.

👉 Learn more at https://www.thenovacompany.org/novaretreat 

Subscribe to The NovaCo Podcast and share this episode with a friend who’s stepping into a new season.

🎸 Intro music produced by Cory Valjien. https://spotify.link/Ot87eEITRDb

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Confidence comes from the identity, not the outcome. Right? Sometimes we'll we'll do well. Let me speak for myself. There have been seasons, many times, when I'm doing things, I'm being productive, I'm producing, and now I'm confident because I am producing the thing that I want to produce. And then life happens and I am less productive. I don't do all what I want to produce. I'm not getting the outcome that I want. And what happens? The confidence wants to go down. But when identity is clear, then you don't have to strive. NovaCo is a faith-filled lifestyle brand, and we are committed to living lives full of peace, clarity, and in full alignment with God. I am April Nova Scipio. So excited you are hanging out with me today. If you are brand new to the podcast, welcome. I want to welcome you not only to the podcast, but also to the Nova community. As I'm sitting here opening up this episode, I don't think on the last episode I gave you a personal invitation to the community. And so if you joined last week and then you're joining again this week, please take a look at Nova Community. The link to the community is in the show notes of this episode. I want to connect with you. We are a group of women and we are definitely living lives differently. We love Jesus and we're building what God has called us to build, all centered around his word. So I'm really excited about today's episode. All month long, we are going through the core values of Novico. These are truths that have shaped my life. They have shaped the brand. And I'm hoping that they'll influence you as well. Today's topic is all about knowing who you are in Christ and how that is non-negotiable. Okay. So jump in. Let's get your journal. Let's get your Bible. Remember, you are not limited by anything that I say. Just like we learned last week, the Lord can speak to you personally. In fact, he wants to do that. And so expect that. Expect God to speak to you. Write down what he says so that you can act on the things that he's telling you to do. So let's jump in today, all about knowing who you are in Christ. Identity, you guys. That's what it boils down to. And what I've learned over the years is that identity is not optional. It is not optional. We have to know who we are in Christ. It is foundational because if you don't know who you are, you will question everything, everything you build. Identity is a thing that it shapes our authority, right? It's like because I know who I am, I can be clear on what God has called me to do. And now I'm going to boldly step into that with authority. And so I want to share with you three thoughts today. Thought number one is this identity comes before assignment. Identity is going to come before your assignment. You are not what you produce, you are who God says you are. In the mornings when I drive my kids to school, I pray over them. And one of the things that I pray is that God, they know who they are in you. That they are not just a grade. They are not just a number that they performed on an athletic field. They are children of God. And you have to know that too. I have to know that for myself. Let's look at Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10. It says, For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. He created us to do good things. We were created way before we were expected to do anything. God created us in his very image. We learned that in Genesis 1:27. Let's read that. Let's read Genesis chapter 1, verse 27. It says, So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God, he created them. Male and female. I want you to let that sink in. I many of you who listen to this podcast, I wouldn't be surprised if you've read that verse before or you heard that statement before. But don't get too familiar with that statement, that it loses its awe. You guys, we were created in the very image of God. Wow. We were created in the image of God. We have to know that before we can ever understand what it is He's calling us to do. And so I want to talk to you about a second thought today. Confidence comes from identity, not the outcome, right? Sometimes we'll we'll do well. Let me speak for myself. There have been seasons, many times, when I'm doing things, I'm being productive, I'm producing, and now I'm confident because I am producing the thing that I want to produce. And then life happens, and I am less productive. I don't do all what I want to produce. I'm not getting the outcome that I want. And what happens? The confidence wants to go down. But when identity is clear, then you don't have to strive. You don't have to perform. You don't, you don't have to perform for your worth. You just get to operate from a place of being worthy, right? I am confident just because I know who I am in Christ and what I do or what I don't do, all right, that does not determine my value. My value is in the fact that I was created in the image of God. Someone needs to really grab hold of that today. Let's look at 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. It says this means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone, a new life has begun. You guys, this is so important. We belong to Christ, so we are brand new. We it doesn't matter what you did in your past, and the past could be five decades ago, five years ago, five minutes ago. You are not your past. We were created to be new in Christ Jesus, and guess what? That newness happens every single day. His mercy is new every day. Every day we operate from a new grace that is extended toward us. It's by the grace of God that we woke up today and we're grateful because today we get to be more like Jesus. We get to be more and more of who He created us to be. Let's look at Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16. Hebrews 4, 16. It says, So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. We have divine help, we have supernatural mercy that's extended to us, and when we know that we can confidently move, right? So now we're not paralyzed by fear, fear of failure, or fear of messing up, or even fear of getting it right, because the outcomes do not get to determine my value, my worth. I don't have to strive to perform. To be confident, I just have to know who I am in Christ. It's a beautiful thing. I want to look at one more thought today, and that's this identity stabilizes your decisions. When you know who you are, you stop wavering. Clarity in who you are in Christ is going to produce clarity in your actions. Right? So because I know who I am in Christ, I know exactly what I'm what I'm supposed to be doing. Let's look at Colossians 3, verse 12. Colossians 3, 12. It says, Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves. Because you're chosen, because you're a child of God, because you know that. Now, here's what the rest of the verse says. Here's our actions. This this brings clarity to our actions because we know that it says you must clothe yourselves with tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. The only way to truly operate, clothed with tender mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience is understanding who you are. Understand that God chose you, understand that you are holy just because God made you. I want to look at one last verse, Proverbs chapter four. I'm gonna read verses 25 and 26. It says, look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet, stay on the safe path. When we get clear about who we are in Christ, and we do actions according to that, that is being on the safe path. That is fixing our eyes on what the Lord has said. If we're not clear, then when someone says something even slightly different, we begin to question and we get a little bit off. Oh, maybe I should do this. Maybe, oh, maybe I should do this. Oh, oh, maybe I should. No. We're not gonna operate our lives off of maybe. We're operating, we're operating our lives based on who God said we are, on who God created us to be. Because when we're clear about who He created us to be, we could be clear about the decisions that we're going to make. I want to pray for us today. Man, it's so important that we know who we are in Christ. I'm gonna really unpack this in my mentorship community this week. We're gonna dig into this. We're gonna see how we can apply this specifically in our lives this week. If you have not joined my mentorship community and you would like to apply to be a part of it, you can definitely DM me, send me a message, send me an email, uh DM me on Instagram or send me an email. Uh, my email is april at the NovaCompany.org. But I just I'm excited about what God is doing in that community. And even as I'm thinking, you know, last week when I talked about the community, uh, the mentorship community, and I was like, apply. And I was like, man, I don't know, people might take that kind of the wrong way, like, oh, I have to apply to being your mentorship. Well, yeah, because I'm I have to steward that space, right? Anyone, whosoever will, can join the Nova community, the large community. And in fact, if you haven't joined that, I want to invite you to join. You get to know me better, you get to connect with me and the ladies in the community. But then there's a group of ladies uh that wants to go a little bit deeper, that wants mentorship. And yes, that is the application process because God has entrusted me with the hearts of those women. And I have to protect that space. And so because of that, there is an application process. But if God is nudging you to get mentorship, I want you to connect with me and let's see if it's a good fit for you. But I want to pray for us today. I know God has amazing things for us this week as we are non-negotiating who we are in Christ, and it's gonna be awesome. We we don't need to become someone new, right? We are already new, God has already made us new, and you have to believe that. You have to believe who you already are, and when we know who we are, man, clarity comes. So I want to pray for us, but I do want us to declare this over our lives today. Say this after me. I know who I am in Christ, I do not strive for worth it, I walk in it. I lead, decide, and move with confidence. My identity is secure and unshaken. Amen. Let's pray. God, thank you. Thank you so much for this day. Thank you so much for who you created us to be, Father. And today we're asking for a greater revelation of the fact that we are created in your image. What an honor that is, Lord. Thank you, Lord, that we don't have to strive to be worthy or to be valuable. Thank you that our value is not based on our outcomes, but we have value because we are your children. And we have confidence because we know who we are in Christ. God, thank you that you don't look at us through the lens of our performance. But God, you look at us through the lens of Jesus and the finished work of the cross. And so, Father, for that, we say thank you. Continue to help us, Father, know more and more each day who you created us to be. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen, guys. I'm so excited about this whole series as we're walking through the core values of Novico. This is important to me. This is this is a foundation. As God is building this brand, I want to make sure that every single person who joins our community, the mentorship program, when you come to retreats and all the things that you know what you're being a part of. And so this series is doing just that. These are the truths that shape what we do here at Novico. Listen, if you haven't subscribed to the podcast already, make sure to subscribe. Tag me when you share this out on socials. Help me to spread this message of hope and encouragement. You may even have time to leave a review, and I would really appreciate that. But I hope to see you on the next episode. This is April Nova Scipio, and this is how we live faith first for them always. Talk to you soon.