Who Do You Think You Are?

“Just be yourself.” It’s a popular piece of advice in our world. Whatever happens in life, just be yourself. But should the Christian - or the recovering addict, for that matter - take this advice? Should we really just “be ourselves”? If you’re still in the throes of addiction, the answer is obvious. 

Sometimes, we may hear this kind of advice in Christian circles: Just be who you are. We might hear that the bible rarely refers to the Christian as a sinner, but as a new creation in Christ, and so we might be encouraged to think: Just be yourself, or better still be who you are in Christ.  

This can be helpful and is certainly part of the pastoral emphasis found in the New Testament. One Christian writer puts it this way: 

“How you act depends on how you think of yourself. If you keep thinking of yourself as a sinner, you are likely to keep on sinning. But if you think of yourself as you really are, as a saint, a Christian, a follower of Jesus, a son or daughter of the King, this then helps you to live like one.”

So, should the Christian just take the advice to “be yourself” – the self you are now in Christ? Should the recovering addict stop viewing themselves through the lens of addiction, see themselves as a saint, and let the rest naturally follow?

Perhaps. But often, life is more complex. We are more complex. Our broken world is more complex. And even the bible is more complex than that.

There’s a paradox in Scripture that every Christian lives with - including those in recovery. While our core identity is in Christ, we continue to live as both saint and sinner until the day we die. We live in the tension of the “now and not yet” of God’s Kingdom.

In that sense, the advice to be yourself - or even be who you are in Christ - can be both helpful and unhelpful. It can help in overcoming sin, but it can also backfire. Sadly, there are many examples of people in recovery who saw themselves only as victorious saints, with disastrous consequences. Some returned to their addiction believing it was now “safe” to do so. Others grew complacent, taking their eye off the ball, and assumed too much in terms of progress.

In Romans 7:13-25, Paul describes his present experience as a Christian. Read it yourself, and you may note something interesting: as a result of being a Christian, Paul becomes more aware of his sin, not less. He becomes more aware of:

The reality of sin:

“Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognised as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.” (Romans 7:13-14)

The battle with sin:

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.” (Romans 7:15-16)

The frustration of sin:

“As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” (Romans 7:17-18)

The complexity of sin:

“For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” (Romans 7:19-20)

The proximity of sin:

“So, I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.” (Romans 7:21-23)

For Paul this honest look at sin is a mark of humility, and it points him to Christ. At Hope For Addiction UK, we find this is deeply helpful when it comes to recovery. Humility and honesty about our sin aren’t obstacles to growth – they are how we overcome and avoid it. That’s why our recovery meetings encourage people to share honestly about their struggles.

Yes, it’s frightening to admit what you are capable of - but it can also be profoundly liberating. Naming sin brings it into the light. It can be a key that opens the door to what makes us tick deep down, as we face life. In other words, acknowledging our sin, when done in humility, is not harmful, but helpful.

Contrary to what is sometimes said, the recovering addict is right to speak honestly about their sin and to acknowledge the continuing impact it has on their lives. We do this not because we believe addiction defines us, but because it reminds us of our capacity for destruction. Romans 7:13-25 shows us that while Paul sees sin as an alien entity that springs to life in him, it is still very much part of who he is. And it in no way excuses him. He must keep confronting, because although he may be dead to sin, sin is not dead to him.

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ out Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” (Romans 7:24-25) 

This kind of self-awareness doesn’t lead Paul toward despair or indulgence – it leads him to faith. In contrast, the “just be who you are” approach can subtly shift the burden of responsibility onto the sinner themselves: Just think rightly about yourself, and you won’t sin. But this overlooks the message of the gospel. When we recognise that sin crouches at the door, awaiting an opportunity, we reiterate the gospel claim: that we are weak, helpless and utterly dependent on Christ.

We often say in recovery: You can’t think your way out of sin and addiction. By naming our sin, we throw ourselves upon the grace of God, which is precisely what every addict needs, and it’s what they’ll find in our meetings. 

This kind of honesty leads not only to humility, but to hope. If we only view ourselves as saints, then every failure becomes a crisis of identity – and disappointment, even depression awaits just round the corner, for the reality is: we all sin. We see this often in recovery. There’s confusion about change and how God works. We may expect one dramatic shift should lead to another, but as Ed Welch puts it in A Banquet In The Grave,

“There is a Christian myth that change is an event rather than a process.”

Understanding that we live as both saint and sinner provides us with a framework for why sin still continues to rear its ugly head in our lives - even when we’ve experienced genuine conversion and transformation - as the promise of the gospel remains true, and God has been at work in other areas of our lives.  This helps explain not only our inner conflict but continually points us back to hope in Christ. That’s where Paul goes in Romans 7:24-25 – despair over his sin leads him to marvel at the gospel. 

And that despair leads seamlessly to Romans 8, where Paul proclaims that sin has been robbed of its power and dominion through the cross of Christ. True and lasting change is now possible – not by sheer effort to “be who you are,” but because of who He is and what He has done. This both relieves the pressure and fosters real change, for there is no greater motivation for change than Jesus Christ and the gospel. He doesn't ignore his failures, but neither is he defined by them. His identity in Christ gives him strength not to look away, but to face sin head-on—regularly and honestly.

It’s hard to imagine Paul simply saying, “Just be yourself, and the rest will follow.”