CHOSEN

It is such a great feeling when you’re in your favorite class in elementary school for the latest game of dodgeball, and a captain chooses you to be on their team. Or, after high school tryouts to make your team roster, you anxiously look for your name on the posted sheet to find out you were chosen to be on the varsity team this year. We all have the deep desire to be seen, heard, and valued in this world, and we often get that validation when we are chosen for something or by someone.

Good News! We serve a God who chose us from the beginning when He decided to create us in His image.

He created us to love us. He created us to have a relationship with us. GOD chose us. We are CHOSEN.

And if we were chosen by God, we must ask the question, “What were we chosen for?” We see different people through the Bible who were chosen to complete specific tasks. For instance, Mary was chosen to carry and give birth to Jesus the Messiah. Moses was chosen to lead God’s people, the Israelites, out of Egypt and out of slavery. Joshua was chosen to lead those same people into the Promised Land. Paul was chosen to bring the Good News of Jesus to the Jews and the Gentiles.

We must understand that when we were chosen to be created in God’s Image and have a relationship with God, we were never supposed to work for God but with God. We are chosen to be set apart.

As followers of Jesus, we have been called to be holy, living a life set apart by God from the world. How we act and how we react; how we love and how we live should look different than the world. God has chosen us to be humble when the world says be prideful and make sure you get yours.

When the world says, if you hurt me, I will get revenge on you, God has chosen us to show mercy and kindness because the battle is not ours but His. When the world says YOLO, so do everything now, God has chosen us to trust Him and be patient. We are chosen to do good works.

Because we have been set apart, there are Holy Spirit tasks God wants us to do as a follower of His. You can read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to see that God wants us to love our enemies, help the poor, set a good example by being a light in this dark world, and so much more. But remember, salvation doesn’t depend on our good works, but our influence does. We love others because He first loved us.

As female athletes, we can constantly feel like we are being rejected. But, be encouraged! We serve a God that not only loves us but has chosen us to be on His team not to do great things for Him but to accomplish great things with Him!

Talk About It:

As teammates, you can help each other learn the Truth about who you are as God’s daughters. The theory that there’s strength in numbers is supported in Scripture—starting with the Father Himself as One of Three—and it certainly applies to you in your quest to embrace who you really are. By joining forces with your teammates, you can multiply your strength and resources in the battle for your souls. As a group, let’s work through the following questions and activities together:

1. Read Ephesians 1:5.
2. Write down your feelings when you read this, knowing God chose to adopt you as His own child.
3. In what ways do you think God wants us to be like His son?

Prayer:

“Lord, thank You for choosing us to love. Thank You for seeing me and having good plans for my life. Let me trust You to equip me for the tasks and to keep You at the center of everything. Help me to love others because You first loved me. In Jesus’ name, amen.”