Loved, That’s Who You Are

Tosin is a youth worker in Birmingham.

Matthew 3:17 (NIVUK) 
And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’

In the past I have sought to identify myself by many things, hoping they’d affirm me in some way: as an engineer, as a leader, as a pastor, entrepreneur, just to name a few. I found that none of these satisfied. 

We read today of God’s delight over his Son, affirming him as loved. This was at the start of Jesus' earthly ministry. At this point, Jesus had not healed the sick or raised the dead, yet his father affirmed him. 

Sometimes it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking we’ve got to perform or work hard to be loved by our Father God. As with Jesus, it’s not our performance that determines his love for us; He loved us first and we love him because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). 

Our response to his love is to love him back which is a daily choice. We can be secure in that we are loved by the everlasting God, the creator of the universe. As he does with Jesus, so he delights over you, saying you are loved. This truth is so profound: knowing your identity in him replaces the need to seek validations that are contrary or in the wrong people or places. 

Perhaps we have heard this said so often that it has become a cliché for us. Don't let it be that! Believing this truth will shift our gaze from ourselves to Jesus and cause a paradigm shift in our Christian experience.

Finally, the answer to one of life's most pertinent questions: 'Who am I?'  is... Loved.

Prayer - Father help me to work daily with the reality that I am loved.