READ: JOHN 1:9-13; ROMANS 8:16-17; 1 JOHN 3:1-3

Have you ever heard someone say they were “created to be” an artist or an athlete or a leader? Growing up, I believed I was created to write because it brings me so much joy and allows me to encourage others. Perhaps there’s something you enjoy doing that has come to feel central to your identity too.

But what if we weren’t created to “do,” but to “be”?

The problem with basing our identity around any earthly thing is that when that activity or relationship isn’t going well, it can feel like our value plummets. That doesn’t mean those things are wrong. Obeying God may even look like participating in those activities, but these pursuits aren’t why God created us.

God created us to be His children. You are God’s daughter or son, simply because you have believed in Him and trusted in Jesus’s finished work on the cross.

As God’s children, we recognize that we need God to take care of us, just as children need their parents to care for them. God delights in us, even when we stumble and require His helping hand (Zephaniah 3:17). He reminds us that our identity as His beloved, forgiven children will not be shaken even if everything else in our lives crumbles.

Before we can do anything to glorify God, we must first root ourselves in our identity in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10). That doesn’t mean everything will come easy—just look at Jesus. Fully God and fully human, Jesus lived the perfect life and yet experienced tremendous suffering. But He was willing to endure the cross because He loves us, and He was determined to make the way for us to become God’s children. When Jesus rose from the grave, He promised to always be with us. So we can take heart knowing that even when we experience suffering, even if the things we love to do are stripped away, we will never have to walk alone.

As God’s children, we will always be treasured in His eyes. • Hannah Chung

• What activities, relationships, or other aspects of your life have contributed to your sense of self?

• What do you think it means that we weren’t created to “do,” but to “be”?

• How does it make you feel to know that God sees you as His child? How might rooting your identity in God’s love for you affect the way you approach life?

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 (NIV)