Encouragement in SufferingSample

Who You Are In God

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Two things are essential to a healthy, thriving, and joy-filled spiritual life. First, knowing who God is. Second, knowing who you are. The second depends on the first. Define yourself by who you are in God.

1 Peter 2:9–10 is one of the clearest passages on who we are in God. This is who we are:

“A chosen race.” God has chosen you. He has set his love on you and adopted you. You did not choose him, but He chose you, or perhaps you chose Him because He chose you. Either way, you are loved, chosen, adopted.

“A royal priesthood.” Every believer is considered a priest, bringing people to the grace of God and praying for them. That’s who you are: one of God’s priests. Moreover, you are a royal priest. You are royal because you belong to the family of the King.

“A holy nation.” Holy. You are holy and blameless in God’s eyes because the blood of Christ has washed all your sins away. You are just as holy as Jesus Christ because God sees you in Christ and through His blood.

“A people for His own possession.” You belong to God. You are known, you are loved, you are adopted. Indeed, who you are is based on whose you are, and you are God’s.

“God’s people.” Again, you belong to God. You are one of His people.

“Recipients of God’s mercy.” You are not just the object of God’s choice; you are the object of God’s mercy. God has poured mercy, grace, and love into you and over you. You are much loved, completely forgiven, blood-bought.

There are condemning voices out there saying that you’re bad, that you’re such a failure, that God can never use you and is angry at you. Don’t listen to those voices. Shut your ears to every voice except God’s voice. Read again what God says about you.

Take this attitude: God said it and I believe it, so that settles it.