Free to be – Bible Study

FREE TO BE

Breaking free from expectations to embrace your God-given identity

We often feel pressure to meet expectations, gain approval, or fit into a version of ourselves that looks good from the outside but leaves us empty within. In those moments, we risk losing sight of who God created us to be.

This study invites you to take an honest look at the identity traps we fall into, and how the love of Christ sets us free. As you reflect on Scripture, you will be reminded that you are fully known and fully loved by God. You are His workmanship, created with intention and called to live with boldness, not fear.

Free to Be is about stepping out of the shadows of performance and into the light of truth. It is an invitation to live as your whole self, shaped by grace, grounded in identity, and shining with the light of Christ in a world that needs to see Him.

THE IDENTITY TRAP

When we live to meet others’ expectations or gain approval, we risk losing our God-given identity and becoming a version of ourselves that isn’t real.

Galatians 1:10
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

John 5:44
How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

1 Samuel 16:7
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Matthew 23:27–28
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

2 Corinthians 4:2
But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.

Proverbs 29:25
The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

James 3:14–15
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

Jeremiah 17:5,7
Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.”
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.”

Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

In what ways do you feel pressure to live up to others’ expectations?

How does the fear of people’s opinions shape your decisions or silence your voice?

How has fear of rejection shaped the way you present yourself to the world?

Where do you feel pressure to conform — spiritually, socially, or even in your personality?

FULLY KNOWN, FULLY FREE

Our true freedom begins when we stop hiding and start living as the person God already sees. One that is fully known, deeply loved, and uniquely made to reflect His image.

Psalm 139:1–4
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

Psalm 139:13–14
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Luke 12:6–7
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

2 Timothy 1:7
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Romans 8:15
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Hebrews 10:35–36
Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

Galatians 5:1
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Romans 5:8
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

How does it make you feel to know that God fully knows and loves you?

How might believing you are “God’s workmanship” change the way you show up in life?

What fears still hold you back from living fully as the person God created?

Are there areas where you’re still performing or pretending? What might it look like to surrender those?

LIVING IN THE LIGHT

Letting our real selves shine so others can see Christ through us

Matthew 5:14–16
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Colossians 3:23–24
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:18
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Philippians 2:15-16
That you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

1 John 1:6-7
If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

John 3:20–21
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

Ephesians 5:8–10
For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

2 Corinthians 4:6–7

For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

In what parts of your life do you tend to hide instead of letting God’s light shine through?

What does it mean to you to “shine” in your everyday life — at work, at home, in church?

Are you holding back anything that God is calling you to share or shine with confidence?

What gifts or callings has God placed in you that are still waiting to be brought into the light?

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.