Church Pews: They’ve Got StoriesÀpẹrẹ

Loved By You: Finding Your Identity In The Love Of God

Whether you’re opening your phone to scroll social media, turning on the television to watch the news, flipping through a magazine, navigating friendships and relationships, or going to work, our current culture is filled to the brim with ever-changing criteria on how to be enough. This leads us to believe that our identity and value are found in something as temporary as achievements and as inconsistent as our own efforts.

We ask ourselves the questions: Am I successful enough? Am I smart enough? Am I productive enough? Am I pretty enough? Am I wealthy enough? Am I liked enough? Do I fit in enough? Am I loved enough? And if we somehow manage to check the “yes” box to each of these questions, then we’ll finally have achieved value. But if that’s where we look to find our identity, we’ll simply be stuck in the cycle of chasing a moving target.

So here’s the good news: Because your identity is found in God, you don’t have to chase it down or earn it, and no one can take it away. God created you with an intrinsic and unchangeable value, and you are deeply loved by Him.

In 1 John 3:1, John writes about the permanent identity God has bestowed upon us by making us His children writing, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” God loves you so completely that He set you apart as His child, allowing nothing in this world to separate you from the Father’s love. Jesus sacrificed His own life because He loves you that much. Wow. Let the reality of that kind of unconditional love sink in!

What if we chose to live like we truly believe that we were intentionally created, known entirely, set apart, and claimed as the treasure of the God of the whole universe? What if we chose to replace the lie of “not good enough” with the truth of “I am enough because I am LOVED by God”? Today I challenge you to speak that truth over yourself. Write it on a post it note and stick it on your bathroom mirror! Make it your phone lock screen! Ask a friend to remind you!

In Psalms 139:13-14, David writes, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

Pray this prayer with me: God, remind me today that I am loved by You. Help me to understand and believe that my identity is found in You and You alone. Help me to live for You rather than the approval of this world. Thank You for loving me. Amen.