It’s What God Says About You That Matters.
The world does its best to define and categorize us, often from a place of lack: too fat, too skinny, too loud, too dumb, too left, too right, too religious, too uncool, blah, blah, blah. But when we choose to believe what God says about us, it puts the world’s labels into proper perspective: wrong.
The Bible gives us the basis for believing that God exists, has purposefully created us, and invites us into relationship with Him so that we discover why He birthed us. #purpose
Who God Says YOU Are:
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YOU possess His strength
Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
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He sees YOU with grace
1 Corinthians 1:4 – I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.
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YOU are God’s handiwork
Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
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God pursues YOU
Psalm 23:6 – Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
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YOU are loved
1 John 4:10 – Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
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YOU are forgiven
1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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Christ calls YOU friend
John 15:15 – I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
The “God Hole” That Draws Us
So, here’s the thing: We all seek love and validation from the world. But the truth is that God designed us with a hole in our heart to draw us to seek Him. Our spouses can’t fully fill the void we’re born with. Our parents can’t fill it. Not even our best friends can be what we need and want them to be 100 percent of the time. But God can. It’s the role He designed for Himself.
Only by accepting God’s love are we able to deal with feeling unloved and unwanted by others. Even better: when we accept His love, we’re able to then authentically love others! Our worth is not determined by the world, but by Him. God says that we’re worthy of His love and of loving ourselves. End of story. Case closed. Always and forever.
This blog post highlights Josh and Sean McDowell’s recently revised apologetics classic, Evidence That Demands a Verdict. We are certain this fully updated and expanded resource will be an effective evangelism tool for you, and strengthen your faith by answering the toughest questions tossed to you by skeptics. Know what you know, because it’s true. But share this truth with LOVE!
If you’d like to start from the first blog post in this series, click here: Apologetics: Apologizing for Believing in God?.
