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Who are you? This is a very important question, but often we have the wrong answers. Even those of us who are born from above, who are dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ, all too often let the world shove us into its mold and we define ourselves by the wrong criteria.
I did that for many years, and it led to an emotional roller coaster ride, to a self-focused life, and to a sinful lifestyle. It might be the cause of a great deal of the pain and struggle you are having in your life right now. If you’re unhappy with who you are, wishing you were like other people, feeling cheated because you don’t have what you want, feeling guilty because you haven’t lived up to other’s expectations or your own, it’s highly likely you’ve fallen into this trap of identifying yourself incorrectly. You don’t really know who you are.
I want to go to Scripture to show you who you are in Christ, just in case you’ve forgotten or maybe you never knew.
You are God’s intentional creation.
You are not an accident of nature or a mistake your parents made. In Colossians 1:16 we read:
For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
You were not just created by him, but for him! The depth of this truth is life-changing. You and I were created by the Almighty God, and we were created for him—for his purposes, for his reasons. That knowledge alone brings significance into our lives.
A dear friend who is now with Jesus came to saving faith as an adult, and I’ll never forget how this truth transformed her life. Her mother had told her all her life that she was accident—an unplanned birth—and her birth had complicated her mother’s life. So, coming to know Jesus meant she finally understood that she was not an accident. She was created by God for his purpose.
And that’s true for you as well. So, don’t forget who you are today! You are God’s intentional creation—his handiwork.