Who are you? I mean really think about it for a minute. If you had to finish the sentence stem, “I am____,” how many ways could you think of to fill in the blank?

Who are you? How do you define yourself? How do you see yourself? What is it that makes you you? How are you different from others?

Our identities are formed by so many outside circumstances. The things that happen when we’re growing up, the things people say to us, how we interpret situations- those all have a tendency to form how we see ourselves and how we identify ourselves.

You may identify by your career, by your position in a family, by your marital status… you may identify with tendencies or characteristics that you have. Maybe you identify as a victim. Short, tall, fat, skinny, old, young, mother, single, wife, leader, follower… maybe the one who had a miscarriage, or the one who had an abortion… the one who’s guilty. The bad friend or the good friend. The one who’s forgiven.

I think of the story at the woman at the well. Jesus knew who she was. She didn’t have to tell Him. He knew exactly how many relationships she had been in, He knew that the man she lived with was not her husband. He knew, yet He still chose to show her love. In His eyes, she wasn’t just the woman who is the adulterer- she was the woman who is loved by God. She was the woman who is loved by her Creator. Just as you are. So today I’m asking you, how many ways are you defining yourself?

It can be really easy to define ourselves by the labels that we are given in our society, but in reality that’s not who we are. We are not defined by our experiences, we’re defined by our Creator! What a huge difference that is! You’re not defined by those experiences that you’ve gone through; you’re not defined by those choices that you’ve made or by how others have treated you. You’re defined as a Child of the King. You are a well-loved creation of the Most High God.

It can be really hard to see ourselves in that way. It can be really hard to see ourselves as someone who is loved enough that Jesus would die on the cross, even if it were just for you. That is amazing. No matter how you see yourself, that’s not how God sees you. God has a much more loving outlook on you. His view of you is covered in grace and love, and that’s something I really hope you can start to seek to understand.

I hope this message has been encouraging to you today, and maybe you have a friend that you could share it with too.

If you’re seeking to better understand your identity in Christ and what exactly that means to you, I encourage you to check out our digging deeper group. It’s https://diggingdeeper.everydayincredible.net