Who am I?

WHO AM I?

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSION HERE!

“But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do His work and speak out for Him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference He made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.” 1 Peter 2:9 (MSG)

From nothing to something. From rejected to accepted. These words keep ringing in my heart over and over again. God, through His unfailing love, has transformed us from nothing into something. If you read the Word, scripture after scripture reveals who God says His children are. He calls us chosen, royal, family, worthy, powerful, holy, free, accepted and loved. This is the truth of who we are. But, I’ve found that we don’t always believe what He says.

There is a spiritual war being waged over who controls our identity.

It is easy to become weighed down by labels assigned to us. Some are labels people give us; others are ones we give ourselves. Maybe you’ve been called words like: “screw up,” “stupid,” “not good enough,” “deadbeat,” or “failure”. Whether it came from a teacher, a family member, a coworker or boss, the toxic words of other people can have a deep impact on us.

Other times, we label ourselves by attaching our identity to what we think makes us significant. Things that make us feel valuable- like our jobs titles, the amount of money we make, who we’re married to or our social status- can easily become subjects to which what we attach our identity. But… What happens if we lose our job -or- go through a financially difficult season? What happens if we come to a rough spot in our marriage -or- we lose our social status? Do we suddenly become less valuable or significant? Absolutely not! Our identity needs to be placed in something far greater than things like this. In fact, there is only one place that is always steady, always sure and always constant.

When a person begins living out of this truth, the freedom that follows is beyond compare. No longer do we waste time or energy searching for significance. No matter what someone says about us or what our circumstances look like, we can stand unshakable because we are confident in who God has created us to be. This is a process of discovery, and once we discover, we must make the choice to believe what God says over what anyone (or anything) says about who we are. When you grab a hold of who God says you are, you can actually empower others to do the same. God will use your transformation to reach people.

Let’s look back at our key scripture, “(We are) God’s instruments to do His work and speak out for Him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference He made for you.” Wow! His Word is saying that YOU are His instrument. YOU are called to share the night-and-day difference He’s made in your life. As you understand who God says that you are, you will live your life from the place of your true identity. People will see what God has done for you. Then you will have the opportunity to share the truth that He will do the same for them!