“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9
If I were to ask who you are, how would you answer? I’m sure some of you would tell me your occupations (I’m a Sailor,) and some would tell me your hobby (I’m a reader,) and the list of attachments you have would go on. This was an exercise in a class I took, where the professor waited the room to quiet, and then looked at all of us and said, “I didn’t ask you what you did. I asked you who you are.”
In a culture where our accomplishments determine our value, it’s easy to conflate the two and move from human beings to human do-ers. It’s why I’ve always loved the visual of God carving man out of a big block of marble, removing everything that wasn’t so that man could be revealed.
Often, as we lose our talents and abilities, lose jobs and opportunities, if we are not centered in the identity God gives us, we lose ourselves; pieces of who we think we are falling off every day. But God has given us an identity that is incorruptible and speaks it over us throughout scripture. Today, we’re going to open our cultural mindset of human do-er and ask God to reveal who He says we are at the core of our being.
Reflection:
Below is a non-exhaustive list of some things we get to identify as in Christ. Reflect on what you resonate most with, and what your heart rejects.
| ● God’s Special possession, 1 Peter 2:9
● A Child of God, 1 John 3:1 ● His Workmanship, Ephesians 2:10 ● Jesus’ Friend, John 15:15 ● A Temple, 1 Cor 3:16 ● A Vessel, 2 Timothy 2:20-21 ● A Co-laborer with Christ, 1 Cor 3:9 ● A Witness, Acts 1:8 ● An Ambassador, 2 Cor 5:20 ● A Minister/instrument 1 Timothy 4:6 ● Beloved, Colossians 3:12 ● Complete in him, Colossians 2:10 ● Salt of the earth, Matthew 5:13 |
● Accepted, Romans 15:7
● Chosen, 1 Peter 2:9 ● Justified and Redeemed, Romans 3:24 ● A new creation, 2 Cor 5:17 ● Righteous, 2 Cor 5:21 ● An Heir, Galatians 4:7 ● Holy and Blameless, Ephesians 1:4 ● The apple of my Father’s eye, Psalm 17 ● Citizen of Heaven, Phil 3:20 ● Gifted, 1 Peter 4:10/1 Cor 12:7 ● Blessed, Eph 1:3 ● Light of the world, Matthew 5:14 ● Saint, 1 Cor 1:2 ● A display of His splendor, Isaiah 61:3 |
Prayer
Lord, it’s easy for me to identify with what I do as my whole culture’s vocabulary is geared toward reinforcing the idea. I know you have a lasting identity for me, one that goes so far beyond what I could build, and so I let go of doing, and open my hands to being. I believe that I am who You say I am, no more and no less. Help me see myself the way you do, and highlight for me a verse that I can claim in the core of my being. Amen.
