By Toni Ford
Have you ever heard the phrase, “identity in Christ?” Although this phrase is often used among believers and the church, I am not so sure any of us will ever understand the full weight of its meaning until we reach heaven, and our Lord is able to explain it in its entirety. However, what I do know is that the more I learn and study how my identity is shaped and defined by how Christ sees me, the more life changing this phrase has become for me and in my life. As a son or daughter of King Jesus, not only do we have a great inheritance, but we also have the ability as a child of God to have our character formed by His qualities and not according to the description of the world.
When I worked with college students, their emotions, attitudes, and behaviors could change suddenly, simply over their comparison with others which affected their thoughts of themselves, words from others, or social media. I longed to see them be set free from the rollercoaster of the world’s requirements, conditions, and expectations, and instead come to a place of rest and peace as a result of knowing their true identity rest in Jesus alone.
If you feel as if you are being tossed about by the things of this world and unsure of how you are seen by others, then I pray that the words below from our Lord would bring a peace and reassurance to your inner soul today. As you read His Words, know that this is His love letter to you and this is how He sees you and thinks of you all day, every day!
- Jeremiah 1:5 – “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”
- Ephesians 1: 7-8, “He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.”
- Psalm 139: 13-14, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous – how well I know it.”
- Psalm 139: 17-18, “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”
- 1 John 3:1-2, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”
Today may you know that you are a delight to Him and He wants you to fully live as the son or daughter that you are. You can’t earn that relationship, so you don’t have to work for it. Be blessed with perfect love that casts out fear that you aren’t enough or you don’t have what it takes. Be blessed as He calls you to life, nurture, and enlargement. Be blessed with a rich gold mine of identity and legitimacy from which to live confidently and purposefully in God’s design of you and His purposes for you. Walk with great confidence today knowing how He sees you and that you are unconditionally loved by the Lord God Almighty!
