7.3 - Fighting from your Identity

Scripture Reading: Colossians 3:12-17

Reflection: Paul calls you chosen, holy, and beloved before he tells you to become compassionate, kind, patient, forgiving, or loving. The order matters. You are not fighting for an identity. You are fighting from one. That is difficult to believe after you fail. Shame tells you that you need to clean yourself up before you can come to God again. Gospel says otherwise. Because you are loved, you can bring what is broken into the light. Because you are accepted, you can admit where you need to change. Because you have been forgiven, you can become a forgiving person. Everything God forms in you grows out of what you have already received. Today, resist the urge to measure God’s love by yesterday’s performance. Let His love become the starting place for today’s obedience. You do not obey to become beloved. In Christ, you are beloved, so learn to live like it.

Application Question: Where have you been measuring God’s love by your performance, and how might being “chosen, holy, and beloved” change the way you approach that part of your life?