Do you struggle to be confident in who you are; struggle with trying to get your identity from how other people respond to you?
I do.
It’s something I often battle with. I can be hyper aware of how people respond to me; of what they say, and how they react. And it can quickly throw me off balance.
It’s something the enemy can really use in my life.
But God has been encouraging me that my identity is not dependent upon how other people respond to me, or what they say.
God wants me to focus on His love. As I focus on His love, I will overcome.
The other person may be having a bad day. They may be tired, or even grumpy. They may misunderstand. They may have no intention whatsoever to communicate the things my sensitive heart can imagine sometimes.
And God’s love for me is secure, and unchanging.
I think He wants me to learn to tune in to His love for me, more and more.
I think He wants me to focus on how He sees me.
I am a child of God. Trusting in Jesus as my Saviour and following Him as Lord, I am adopted. Justified. Chosen. Accepted.
And God’s words to me are true.
‘”Since you were precious in My sight,
You have been honored,
And I have loved you;”‘ Isaiah 43:4a
And God sees things differently to people, anyway.
Sometimes others disapprove, but Jesus is delighted.
‘But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me.’ Matthew 26:10
And God is God. People are only people. What God says is what counts.
‘“I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you should be afraid
Of a man who will die,
And of the son of a man who will be made like grass?”‘ Isaiah 51:12
So I want to intentionally tune in more to the love of my Father.
To soak in His love, so that I’m more aware of His affirmation in my everyday. To listen to messages about how His love. To meditate on verses about who I am in Him. To write and sing songs about it.
To grow in focusing on the love and acceptance of my Father.
Because, in Jesus, my identity really is secure in Him. 🙂
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Caroline Abblitt 