Whether you’re married, single, or widowed; whether you’re wealthy or poor or middle class; whether you’re young or old or middle aged, you have an internal voice that tells you who you are. You have an identity. It’s what we believe about ourselves. And I don’t care which of those categories I just mentioned that you fall into, your identity can and should be grounded in who God says you are.
But too often it’s actually based on something else – it may be what your parents told you, it may be how your kids treat you, it may be what that girl in 10th grade said about you, it may be how that guy you dated treated you, it may be based on what you see when you look in the mirror, it may be based on what you do or don’t have.
Everyone of us is getting bombarded with messages every day. There are things all around us that speak to us about our worth, about our looks, about our social standing, about our intelligence.
These messages have been coming at us since before we were even old enough to understand them. It’s fascinating to learn about the effects of attention on even the tiniest of babies. About how interactions with other people literally form our brains and how they work and what that means for our identity, our self-worth and self-image.
There’s a song on Christian radio called Who You Say I Am. I’ll take the lyrics from that and tell you a few things that the Bible says we are – we are CHOSEN, we are NOT FORSAKEN, we are FREE INDEED, we are CHILDREN of GOD, we HAVE A PLACE IN HEAVEN.
But that’s a song on the radio, that’s not scripture… But wait…IT’S BOTH!
Isaiah 40:28-31 New International Version
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Ephesians 1:3-5 New Living Translation
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
Psalm 37:28 English Standard Version
28 For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
Hebrews 13:14-16 New Living Translation
14 For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.
15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 16 And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.
1 John 3:1-3 The Message
3 What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to.
2-3 But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.
So I don’t know where this leaves you, but I hope it sets into your mind and your heart who our God says you are. I hope that you will choose at least one these verses to own and to remind yourself of every day.
If we connect to the voices in the world, we’ll always feel less than, we’ll feel empty, we’ll feel inferior.
If we connect to what God says about us in his Word, we will be filled, redeemed, empowered, grateful and filled with joy.
MoSt Church 