Daily Delight
How do you define yourself? Perhaps it is by your job title, or by a hobby you enjoy, or by a relationship you keep. When someone in a small group asked me this question, I had two reactions: one being the answer I would most likely give a group of believers, a Christian; the other was a little sister. I spent a majority of my adolescence introducing myself as my older sister’s kin. As time has passed and our social groups become less and less intertwined, other identity markers have pushed their way forward into my introduction. In some groups, I was known by my major in college. Other people knew me as my job title. A great deal of both of these groups knew that I spent my free time exercising, and was thus coined a “gym rat.” ⠀⠀These definitions of self are healthy in the sense that they provide knowledge to others about who you are and what you do. I recently went through a trial that stripped all my definitions away. No longer was I able to go to work, or the gym, or sit down and read poetry. Every single thing that I had identified myself with was not available to me. As I meditated on what God was teaching me at that moment, I remembered the first question I asked: How do I define myself? ⠀⠀1 John 3:1 states, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so that we are” (ESV). We are children of God. How wonderful is that! We are adopted as God’s kin, and He lavishes His great love on us, his kids. While I could not work, exercise, or read, I was still a child of God. Before you are anything else you define yourself as, you are a child of God. That is where your true identity lies. Worldly experiences and material objects will fade away, as this earthly life is finite; your relationship with God is infinite, as He knows no beginning or no end. His greatness and awesome love are where your definition abides. Amen? Amen.⠀
About the Author
Rachel Schlotzhauer
Rachel is a recent college graduate from Grand Canyon University. Her passions include serving high schoolers at her local church and writing poetry. Rachel lives in Phoenix, AZ, with her family (including her three sisters).