A New Identity

As I look back at my feed from a couple of years ago, I see a fit, strong woman, whose whole existence centered around fitness. She woke up to workout, eat healthy, build her brand, and post all about it in the name of "GIRL POWER." 

But, that girl had her identity wrong. Her identity was in her outer appearance and her value came from how she looked and her star power. Was I getting enough followers? Did they LIKE my pics and posts? Were my posts going viral? Was my brand making money? Those were my measures of success. 

Now, I look back and it saddens me to think of how I measured success. It saddens me that I placed so much value in what others thought of me and in how I looked. The closer I get to Christ the more He becomes my identity. The more time I spend with Him, the more I want to look like Him. My mind is being transformed and my actions are following suit (Romans 12:2).

The questions I ask myself now to measure success are:

• Is my family happy and loved?
• Do they know they are my priority?
• Do they love God with all their hearts?
• Is my husband leading our home spiritually?
• Am I being a good helper to him and encouraging him with my words and actions?
• Do I love Christ with all my heart and soul and mind? 
• Am I showing the fruits of the Spirit (Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self control) on a daily basis?
• Is God my #1 and am I keeping my order of priorities in the right order (God, spouse, kids, ministry, job, everything else)?

If I can say yes to these, then I know I am moving in the right direction. The Word of God tells us that "this life is but a vapor" (James 4:14), here today and gone tomorrow. Psalm 139:13-14 says, "You [LORD} created my inmost being, you knit me in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." 

How dare we measure the value of our lives by how we look or how many likes we get on social media? We were created by a loving God in His image and He alone gives us our value and our identity. Romans 5:8 says, "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." You are loved my friend. You are valuable. So valuable Jesus laid down His life for you. 

So next time you look in the mirror to assess if you are beautiful enough, or step on a scale to measure your value, remember, there is one who loved you even before the creation of this earth, one whose love is more wide and deep than you can imagine.  YOU ARE LOVED. YOU ARE VALUABLE. 

"And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." Ephesians 3:18-19

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