Curated insights from Goliath Never Wins by Samuel Rodriguez

Most of us have been told who we are by someone: a parent, a boss, a critic, our own worst memories. Identity in Christ means you are defined by what God says about you, not by culture, your past, or other people’s opinions. In Goliath Never Wins, Samuel Rodriguez shows this through David, an overlooked shepherd God chose and anointed long before he faced a giant, and who refused to fight in another man’s armor.

What Does Identity in Christ Mean?

Rodriguez defines identity in Christ in three short sentences: “Identity is not what culture says about you. Identity is not even what you say about you. Identity is what God says about you.” We carry many identities, from spouse or parent to the work we do. “Out of all the ways you can be identified, however, one way anchors all the others,” Rodriguez writes, and that anchor is being chosen by God and anointed with His Spirit. As we see in Scripture:

“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.” Ephesians 2:10 NLT

What Does 1 Samuel 16:7 Mean for Your Identity?

In 1 Samuel 16, God has rejected Saul and sends the prophet Samuel to Jesse’s household in Bethlehem to anoint a new king. Samuel assumes the oldest son, Eliab, is the one, but God passes over him and every brother after him. The youngest, David, isn’t even in the room; he’s out with the sheep. Samuel insists they send for him, and David is anointed in front of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord comes powerfully upon him (1 Samuel 16:13).

Samuel was a seasoned prophet, and even he was taken in by appearances. Eliab looked like a king, so God stepped in: “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV).

As Rodriguez writes, “It’s not how you look. It’s not your size. It’s your heart!” David was the son nobody thought to call in from the field. He hadn’t proved anything to anyone, and God chose him anyway. That’s why Rodriguez reminds us that “others cannot see all that God sees in you!”

What It Means to Be Anointed

In the Bible, oil poured over someone’s head marked them as set apart. For Rodriguez, being anointed means God has chosen you and empowered you by His Spirit for His purposes. When Samuel poured the oil over David in front of his brothers, there was no mistaking whom God had picked.

At Jesus’s baptism, the Spirit descended like a dove and the Father publicly called Him His beloved Son (Matthew 3:16–17), because God wanted those watching to know His Son’s true identity.

This anointing is not reserved for kings. “If you have accepted the free gift of salvation through Jesus,” Rodriguez writes, “then you have been anointed by God with another gift, the Holy Spirit dwelling in you.” Your anointing is God’s power to fulfill His purpose, and God’s anointing anchors your identity.

When Others Question Who You Are

Unfortunately, knowing your identity in Christ does not stop other people from questioning it. Sometimes the loudest doubts come from your own family or those closest to you. When David showed up at the battle and asked about Goliath, the Philistine, his oldest brother, Eliab, burned with anger and accused him of being conceited and wicked at heart, and of only wanting to watch the battle (1 Samuel 17:28).

As Rodriguez observes, “Here is someone who has known David his entire life criticizing not only his motives but David’s character.” The same thing happens today when those closest to us try to talk us out of what God has called us to do.

Encouragement is a gift, but Rodriguez is clear that “their support is supplemental and not essential and what is essential is your faith in God and His anointing on your life.” And if God has anointed you, He has been preparing you for your giant all along, even in the seasons that felt like nothing but tending sheep.

Removing Saul’s Armor: Refusing an Identity That Isn’t Yours

When David offered to fight the giant, King Saul told him he was too young to fight a lifelong warrior (1 Samuel 17:33). Then Saul turned around and dressed him in his own bronze helmet and coat of mail. “I can’t go in these,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them” (1 Samuel 17:39 NLT). He took them off and went out with his staff, his sling, and five smooth stones.

One moment Saul says David cannot win; a few moments later he hands him the royal armor. “Mixed messages don’t allow for miracles,” Rodriguez writes. “Those who don’t support you in your fight forfeit the right to prepare you for battle.” That doesn’t make every piece of advice suspect. But if someone never believed in your calling, they don’t get to suit you up for it.

Your version of Saul’s armor might be the advice, labels, and expectations from others that you’ve been wearing. In its place, Rodriguez points to the armor of God in Ephesians 6, which every believer already has. “David did not have to believe in himself because he believed in God,” he writes.

“You cannot live out your destiny with someone else’s identity.” —Samuel Rodriguez

What Defines You Instead

In Goliath Never Wins, Rodriguez puts them side by side: the labels we tend to wear, and what God says should define us instead.

You are not defined by…	You are defined by…
Your failures	His forgiveness
Your trauma	His testimony
Your drama	His destiny
The hell you’re going through	The heaven you are going to
What you do for God	What God already did for you

The New Testament, the Apostle Paul roots this identity in Christ Himself:

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me,” Galatians 2:20 NIV

Or, as Rodriguez puts it: “You are everything Jesus paid for on the cross, and when you know who you are, you refuse to be anyone else.”

Frequently Asked Questions

What does identity in Christ mean?

Identity in Christ means your sense of who you are rests on what God says about you rather than on culture, your past, or other people’s opinions. Samuel Rodriguez summarizes it in Goliath Never Wins this way: “Identity is what God says about you.”

What does the story of David and Goliath teach about identity?

The David and Goliath story teaches that God’s choice of a person, not their size, age, or experience, determines what they can face. Because David was anointed before he met Goliath, he could rely on God instead of his brother’s approval, the king’s confidence, or Saul’s armor.

What does it mean to be anointed by God?

Being anointed by God means being chosen and empowered by His Spirit for His purposes. Rodriguez teaches that every believer who has received salvation through Jesus has been anointed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and that this anointing anchors a believer’s identity.

Why did David refuse Saul’s armor?

David refused Saul’s armor because he was not used to it and trusted the way God had already prepared him (1 Samuel 17:39).

Book cover of Goliath Never Wins by Samuel Rodriguez