Child of God

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1

Insight 

As I took time to reflect on 2022 through the Personal Retreat, one theme that stood out to me was family. My most joy-filled memories of the year involved my family, but so did some of the most difficult challenges. I cherish the opportunities I had to love and serve my family this year, but remembering the loss of loved ones is still hard to process. Bottom line, family means a lot to me.

I love the picture of family seen throughout the scriptures. John uses the idea of family in such a powerful way in 1 John 3:1, that through Jesus you and I become part of God’s family. God becomes our Father and we become God’s dearly loved children. Children who have the Father’s love lavished on them! And why would God lavish his love on us? Simply because we are his children, that’s who we are! 

Honestly, it really shouldn’t surprise me that family was a major theme of 2022. See, I picked the word “son” as My One Word for the year. After writing “son” at the top of my journal every day last year (well, every day I journaled) something that I took away was this: my identity is essential to my reality! What does that mean? It means that your identity is arguably the most important thing about you!

You can try to discover your identity in a lot of different places - your job, your status, your stage of life, your aesthetic, your hobbies. But what if this year you simply received your identity from the only one who is actually able to give it to you - God? What if this year you allowed what God says about you to be most true about you? What if you allowed your God given identity to become your reality?

If you wonder what God says about you, here are just a few things:

You are a friend of Jesus - John 15:15

You are a member of Christ’s body - 1 Corinthians 12:27

You are God’s co-worker - 1 Corinthians 3:9

You are God’s temple - 1 Corinthians 3:16

You are God’s - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

You are a new creation - 2 Corinthians 5:17

You are an ambassador for Christ - 2 Corinthians 5:18-20

You are a saint, a set apart one - Ephesians 1:1

You are God’s workmanship - Ephesians 2:10

You are a work in progress that God will complete - Philippians 1:6

You are a citizen of heaven - Philippians 3:20

You are redeemed and forgiven - Colossians 1:14

You are full in Christ - Colossians 2:10

You are a child of God - 1 John 3:1

Reflection

• Where do you go, other than to God, to find your identity? In what ways has that source of identity let you down?

• Which identity statement from scriptures above do you need to hold onto today? Why? How can you keep it in front of you?

Prayer

Father God, thank you for calling me your child and for lavishing your love on me. I don’t deserve it, and I could never earn it. Yet, because of Jesus, you extend your love to me and today I receive it! Help me to believe that what you say about me is most true of me. Give me courage to walk in my true identity today and every day. In Jesus name. Amen.

Clay Everett, Wilmington Campus Pastor, wrote today’s devotional.