Getting Your Value And Worth From The Correct Source

The Spirit also tells us who we are. Identity is a never ceasing issue for most of us. We want so badly to think well of ourselves, to believe we are valued and important. But on our own all we have are opinions from others and from ourselves. We tell ourselves we are good ( or bad), and we spend each day searching for some evidence to prove it, only to have to do it all over again the next day. The verdict never comes in. Our egos are always on trial. But the Spirit witnesses with our spirit, telling us we are our Abba's child, in whom he is well pleased (Romans 8:16) - not because of our performance or accomplishments, our holiness or virtue, but because we are sacred beings of invaluable worth. 

How do we know this? The Spirit imparts this crucial knowledge as we dwell on the mystery now disclosed in the sacrifice of the Son. The Lamb of God willingly laid down his life for us while we were yet sinners, sinners that God desperately loved. That is what the cross means, but it is foolishness to the human mind on its own. Only by the witness of the Spirit can we grasp this incredible mystery. And when we do, it changes everything. We now know who we are: beloved children of God. Yes, still sinful, imperfect, flawed and at times downright despicable in our thoughts, words and deeds. But loved nonetheless. And forgiven forever, made holy by the Christ who dwells within us.

This is a knowledge that changes everything, the most important knowledge any human can know. But it is not to be understood as a theory; it must be grasped as a living reality. It is experiential knowledge; this knowledge must be lived. And when we grasp this knowledge, we are renewed. Our lives are transformed. If knowledge is, in fact, power, then this knowledge is the most powerful reality anyone can know- not knowledge about God, but rather knowledge of God. Thanks be to God, through Jesus and the Holy Spirit we can know it. 

Excerpt from Hidden In Christ by James Bryan Smith