This is one thing I really struggle with.  Let’s just say self-confidence and self-esteem are not among my strong suits. (Not to be confused with pride, which I often have WAY too much of).  As I was looking back through my old blogs, I noticed a recurring theme: blogs about who, and Whose, I am.  I confess, it is an ongoing struggle, especially now as I have joined the 50+ club.  But the words in the blog below still hold true. When doubts creep in and self worth crumbles, it is because I have forgotten who and Whose I am.  In the song “I Am New” by Jason Gray, it says…

“Forgiven, beloved, hidden in Christ
Made in the image of the Giver of Life
Righteous and holy, reborn and remade
Accepted and worthy…”

This is my new name. This is who I am—I belong to Him. Sometimes I just need to be reminded once again of who I am. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 HCSB states:

…beloved by the Lord, because God
from the beginning chose you for salvation
through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth…

I am beloved by the Lord…chosen from the beginning…filled by the Spirit…and am continually being transformed.  This is who the Bible says I am.  So, what do I need to do?  As Blanca sings, I need to believe who I am and Whose I am.

Turning down
Tuning out
Every single word
That caused me pain
Unashamed
And unafraid
‘Cause I believe You mean it when You say

Here are just a few of the things that the Scriptures tell us…

• Colossians 3:12 AMP says I am “well-beloved [by God Himself,”
• 1 John 3:12 NASB tells us “now we are children of God,”
• Zephaniah 3:17 NIV states “The Lord your God is with you…He will take great delight in you; He will rejoice over you with singing.”
• Isaiah 49:16a AMP reminds us “Behold, I have indelibly imprinted (tattooed a picture of) you on the palm of each of My hands.”

As I wrote above, the words in the blog that follows still hold true. When doubts creep in and self-worth crumbles, it is because I have forgotten who I am and Whose I am.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Another voice, another choice
To listen to words somebody said
Another day, I replay
One too many doubts inside my head

Am I strong…beautiful
Am I good enough
Do I belong
After all that I’ve said and done
Is it real when I feel
I don’t measure up
Am I loved

I’m running to the One who knows me
Who made every part of me in His hands
I’m holding to the One who holds me
‘Cause I know whose I am, I know who I am
I am sure I am Yours

Turning down, tuning out
Every single word
That caused me pain
Unashamed, and unafraid
‘Cause I believe You mean it when You say

I am strong…beautiful
I am good enough
I belong
After all
‘Cause of what You’ve done
This is real what I feel
No one made it up
I am loved

I am sure I am Yours
I know who I am
I am sure I am Yours

Fearfully, wonderfully, perfectly
You have made me

I’m running to the One who knows me
I’m holding to the One who holds me

  Blanca
Written by Blanca Callahan / Seth Mosley / Mia Fieldes

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

For it was You who created my inward parts;
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well.
Psalms 139:13-14 HCSB

“Another voice, another choice
To listen to words somebody said
Another day, I replay
One too many doubts inside my head

Am I strong…beautiful
Am I good enough
Do I belong
After all that I’ve said and done
Is it real
When I feel I don’t measure up
Am I loved?”

Surely I am not the only one that can relate to these words!  Thoughts and questions just like these have played over and over in my head at least a thousand times (sometimes in just one day) but as I was listening to this song on the radio, the light bulb went on!  I have to know WHOSE I am before I will really understand WHO I am. Duh!  {Mental head slap here}

As I looked through the many lists of Scriptures about ‘who I am’, I began to see ‘Whose I am’:

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:26 NLT

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, His own special people…
1 Peter 2:9 NKJV

…For our citizenship is in heaven…
Philippians 3:20a HCSB

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved…
Colossians 3:12a NASB

Little children, you are of God [you belong to Him]
1 John 4:4a AMP

I am a child of God!
I am His!
He chose me.
He created me.
And He holds me close.

John 10:28b-29 states:

…No one will snatch them out of My hand.
My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all;
and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

Since I belong to Christ, that means:

For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night.
1 Thessalonians 5:5 NLT

Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit
Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God?
1 Corinthians 6:19 AMP/(1 Corinthians 3:16)

Now you are the body of Christ and individual members of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27 HCSB

…But I have called you friends…
John 15:15

For we are God’s masterpiece.
Ephesians 2:10a NLT

Did you get that?  We are God’s masterpiece!

A masterpiece is beautiful.  It is lovely.  It is treasured.  It is of immeasurable worth!  So that means God sees us as beautiful, lovely, treasured, and of immeasurable worth!

Knowing Whose I am gives me a sense of identity, of self confidence.

We are strong, we are good enough, we are loved!
{And I really need to remember that!}